More than 30 African ministers of education and science attending the First African Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for Youth Employment, Human Capital Development and Inclusive Growth, unanimously pledged to put STI policies, strategies, programs and plans into action over the next five years.

The Forum ended on 3 April, after a two-day experts’ meeting on 1 and 2 April and a one-day ministerial conference on 3 April, presided over by the President of Kenya, His Excellency Mwai Kibaki.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the West African Development Bank (WADB) signed a loan agreement of a capital subscription of EUR 3.05 million and a line of credit of EUR 64 million to the West African Development Bank (WADB). The objective of this facility is to strengthen WADB’s financial capacities and to assert its role as a strategic partner of AfDB in financing the private sector, the engine of growth in West Africa.

On 12 March 2012, the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) signed a grant agreement for USD 63million to fund a multinational project titled “Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa (SARD-SC), and the IITA.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Kenyan government signed loan and grant agreements totaling some USD 336 million in support of clean energy and road infrastructure development in Kenya on 12 March.

The financial package includes a USD 186.7 million loan for the Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa Road Corridor Project and a USD 149.5 million loan and grant financing for the Menengai Geothermal Development Project.

France, Chad and Republic of Congo at World Water Forum add to recent Swiss backing

The governments of Chad, the Republic of Congo and France announced on 14 March that they would pledge some €45 million to support the African Development Bank’s Rural Water and Sanitation Initiative and the African Water Facility.