Press Releases

Egypt Economic Development Conference: Important AfDB delegation reinforces Bank’s support for Egypt

12-Mar-2015 - The African Development Bank (AfDB) is actively participating in the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC), which kicks off Friday, March 13, 2015 in Sharm el-Sheikh. The international forum aims to showcase the investment opportunities offered by different key sectors of the Egyptian economy – electricity and renewable energies, water and sanitation, oil and minerals, transport, agriculture and tourism.

Heads of Multilateral Development Banks and IMF commit to promote Gender Equality

09-Mar-2015 - Heads of Multilateral Development Banks and the International Monetary Fund have called on all international development and financial institutions to join the effort to promote gender equality across the world. In a statement issued on March 8, 2015 marking the 20th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and International Women’s Day, the seven MDB/IMF heads said while progress had been made in closing gender gaps especially in the areas of maternal mortality and school enrolment, much still remained to be done.

AfDB approves US $19 million in loans and grants to boost skills of tradespeople and agro-scientists in Eritrea

04-Mar-2015 - The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Board of Executive Directors approved on March 3 in Abidjan a US $19-million project comprising an African Development Fund (ADF) loan of US $10.7 million and an ADF grant of US $8.3 million to boost the Technical, Vocational, Education and Training (TVET) sector. The Support to Skills Development for Employability and Entrepreneurship (SDEEP) project includes US $2.1 million in counterpart funding from the Government of the State of Eritrea (GSoE) bringing the total project cost to US $21.1 million.

AfDB-hosted workshop to develop pioneering ECOWAS Gender and Energy Policy

04-Mar-2015 - The African Development Bank (AfDB), the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), and the United States-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have formed a partnership centered on linking gender and energy access. The three jointly organised an inception workshop to launch a project about developing an ECOWAS Policy for Gender Mainstreaming in Energy Access and its Implementation Strategy. The workshop was held on Tuesday, February 24, 2015, at the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

First AfriK4R-COMESA Peer Review Meeting Launched in Nairobi

25-Feb-2015 - The first peer-review meeting for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) under the Africa for Results (AfriK4R) initiative kicked off in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on February 24, 2015. The three-day meeting is aimed at evaluating the efforts of eight COMESA member states and associated country Tanzania in improving policy convergence and results-oriented policies and programs in the region, with a focus on accelerating the implementation of development interventions.

AfDB approves US $70.5 million budget support operation for Tanzania energy sector

21-Feb-2015 - The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, a loan of US $70.5 million to finance the Tanzania Power Sector Reform and Governance Support Programme (PSRGSP). The objective of the operation is to promote inclusive growth and enhanced economic competitiveness through power sector, economic and financial governance reforms. The loan agreement will be signed next week, on the margins of the Bank’s Annual Meetings in Abidjan.

AWF sanitation project in South Africa to raise school girl attendance

19-Feb-2015 - The African Water Facility announced on Monday, February 16, 2015, that it is providing a €1.2-million grant to help improve school sanitation facilities in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Over 100,000 students will directly benefit from this project, which will also create business opportunities for entrepreneurs as well as employment for local youth. The project will support local social franchise businesses to provide affordable and sustainable on-site sanitation services to about 300 schools in the Amathole and Buffalo City...

Boosting trade through reducing barriers in the MENA Region

19-Feb-2015 - The African Development Bank (AfDB) has published a new economic paper on the Middle East and North Africa, entitled "Trade Volume and Economic Growth in the MENA Region: Goods or Services?" In this paper, the African Development Bank underlines that the relatively high trade barriers in the region have a negative effect, not only on service trade, but also on the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector. This is even truer in the case of some services (transport and telecommunications, as well as financial services) that are complementary...

African Development Bank Group Executive Directors on impact mission to Southern Africa

18-Feb-2015 - A delegation of African Development Bank Group Executive Directors is preparing to travel to Zimbabwe and Mozambique to assess the impact of Bank projects in the two countries.  The 10 Board members along with two Senior Advisors, representing 42 countries, will visit Zimbabwe from February 22 to 28, and Mozambique from March 28 to April 4.