Press Releases

14/03/2013 - The euro area continues to be the largest trading partner of the franc zone countries with a very important share (more than 70 per cent of trade) in half of the 14 countries. Membership of this zone has the advantage of restraining inflation over the long term. The common currency has also been used as a basis for regional integration with strong institutions. However, compared to other African countries, the franc zone countries are less competitive in international markets and seem less equipped to counteract some exogenous shocks, which partly explain their low growth rate.

Categories: Economic & Financial Governance

14/03/2013 - The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group approved, on March 13, 2013, grants and loans amounting to US $73 million to finance irrigation and road rehabilitation projects in Malawi.

Categories: Malawi, Infrastructure, Transport, Water Supply & Sanitation

13/03/2013 - The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched Open Data Platforms for the following 20 African countries: Algeria, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Categories: Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Senegal, Nigeria, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi, Namibia, Ghana, South Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Economic & Financial Governance

12/03/2013 - The African Development Bank is financing a ground-breaking initiative in Tunisia – Souk At-tanmia – with the goal to foster youth employment, particularly in disadvantaged regions that are struggling with high levels of unemployment in the aftermath of the revolution.

Categories: Tunisia, Gender, Human and Social Development, Youth

08/03/2013 - En ce jour de célébration des femmes, il est opportun de rappeler l’importance de leur rôle pour assurer l’avenir économique du continent africain. Car il est impossible, aujourd’hui, d’évoquer une Afrique prospère et égalitaire sans parler de leur pleine intégration sur le marché du travail.

Categories: Burkina Faso, Gender, Human and Social Development

07/03/2013 - Funded by the African Water Facility (AWF) to the amount of US $3 million, the project designed to rehabilitate the water supply and sewerage systems in Chitungwiza will be handed over today to the Municipality of Chitungwiza, following the completion of the construction works.

Categories: Zimbabwe, Water Supply & Sanitation, African Water Facility, Health, Human and Social Development

07/03/2013 - The 4th Session of the Steering Committee Meeting of the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Initiative opened in Tunis, Tunisia, on Wednesday, March 6 with a strong commitment from partners to do whatever it takes to ensure that the program contributes effectively towards the fight against climate change impacts on Africa.

Categories: Climate Change, Environment, Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Initiative

04/03/2013 - Studies on banking competition in developing countries, and especially in Africa, are sparse. This 2013 study, published by the Chief Economist Complex of the African Development Bank, evaluates the degree of competition in the Zambian banking sector in the wake of dynamic market shifts induced by financial reforms, entry of new foreign banks and privatization of the state-owned bank. Competition is measured using the Panzar-Rosse H-statistic and the Lerner index from 1998-2011. To our knowledge, estimation of the time varying bank-specific Lerner index provides the first-ever documented empirical evidence on the evolution of competition in the Zambian industry.

Categories: Zambia, Economic & Financial Governance

04/03/2013 - The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Investment and Development Bank of the Economic Community of West African States (EBID) signed today a grant agreement amounting to US $950,000 to strengthen the EBID institutional capacities. The signing ceremony, held during the inauguration of the AfDB national office in Togo, was chaired by Serge N’Guessan, AfDB Resident Representative in Togo, and Bashir Ifo, EBID President.

Categories: Togo, Private Sector Development, Fund for African Private Sector Assistance