Africa offers more opportunities for investments than ever before, given its burgeoning young population, vibrant middle class and unpreceded ICT penetration. This is according to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, who has called for more contribution to the Africa Development Fund (ADF) to spur the continent’s development agenda. Ndagijimana said that Africa was also safe bet for investors because of a wider market occasioned by regional integration, African Continental Free Trade Area and the improving business environment. He was officiating at the ongoing 14th Africa Development Fund (ADF) midterm review in Kigali. The minister lauded the important role of African Development Bank (AfDB) through ADF, which has sustained its support to Africa’s development journey. Since 1974, AfDB has cumulatively approved 98 loans and grants amounting to $ 1.65 billion to Rwanda of which, 97 per cent were financed through the concessional ADF window. The largest share of this support has been allocated to infrastructure - mainly transport and energy 31.7 per cent, agriculture 24.9 per cent, and the social sector 17.1 per cent. In the last two decades, Rwanda has made good progress in these sectors and ADF has its share in these achievements. Africa together with the rest of the world has committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose achievement requires significant investments, especially in Africa and other developing countries. A recent analysis by the International Monetary Fund shows that achieving the SDGs will require spending additional $520 billion by low-income countries, many of which are in Africa, in many sectors, including infrastructure. “It is evident that a significant replenishment of the ADF is needed more than ever before, and I call upon all the contributors to the Fund to consider this new context, and support the African development agenda, which is beneficial not only for Africa but also for the rest of the World,” Minister Ndagijimana said. ADF is the concessional financing window of the AfDB that provides low income regional member countries with concessional loans and grants, guarantees as well as technical assistance for studies and capacity building in support of projects and programs that spur poverty reduction and economic development. It has cumulatively invested $45 billion over its 40 years of operations on the African continent. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
