AfDB pushes for transformation
WITH ‘HIGH 5,’ A STRATEGIC DEVEL OPMENT vision, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is pushing further Africa’s transformation beyond its recent decadelong economic growth, especially as at the same time, many African...
WITH ‘HIGH 5,’ A STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT vision, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is pushing further Africa’s transformation beyond its recent decade-long economic growth, especially as at the same time, many African economies have continued to function at well below their full potentials.
The AfDB ‘High 5’ constitutes priority areas intended to support African countries’ achievement of the SDGS. They are: Feed Africa; Light up Africa; Industrialise Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life for the people of Africa.
Atta Abdul, Fatima-Zahra, Shuaibu, and Daniel are the faces of a continent that is being transformed. By betting on Africa’s youth, the bank is banking on the future to make the continent a land of progress, prosperity and hope.
The African development financial institution noted that, Africa has recorded some of the world’s strongest rates of economic growth for the past ten years, but at the same time, many African economies continue to function at well below their full potentials.
As a result, a structural transformation is needed to create more jobs, reduce poverty and accomplish sustainable development objectives.
Under the “Feed Africa,” vision, AfDB would get more Africans benefit from its improved agricultural technologies initiative. Since 2015, at least 74 million Africans have benefited from improved agricultural technologies through the bank’s efforts to support increased food security on the continent. Examples include western Mauritania, where the Brakna-Ouest irrigation infrastructure improvement project, supported by the bank with $12 million enabled 1,500 farming and livestock-producing families to return to cultivating their fields. One of the projects beneficiaries in Louboudou area of the country, Atta Abdul Seck said: “We come from a farming and livestock-producing family, and we grew up in that environment. Our harvest was very poor. We wanted to move somewhere else. As a farmer’s son, what I liked most when I returned was being able to continue farming. Farming is in my blood.”
For “Light up Africa” strategic priority, the Bank has made investment in energy a priority, mobilising some $12 billion since 2016. It notes that without electricity, agriculture cannot effectively meet the growing challenge of food security in Africa. Through this investment, 13.4 million people have gained access to electricity.
For example: Morocco has made significant progress in widening access to electricity in the past 20 years. Electricity system has expanded to cover almost the entire country. The county’s national rural electrification program, supported by the AfDB with €155 million, has connected nearly 12.8 million Moroccans to the national power grid. In Dar El Aïn, a village 20 km from Marrakesh, the arrival of electricity has opened new doors for the women of the “Al Amal” cooperative. They use electricity to process their wheat into couscous or create other barley or wheat-based products. “The cooperative processes local crops into added-value products. Now, with electricity, the women are much more efficient, and their products are of better quality. It creates hope,” says Fatima-Zahra, a 30-year-old member.
In the “Industrialise Africa,” nine million people have gained access to private financing. In Nigeria, for instance, where more than 70 percent of the population depends on agriculture, fluctuating harvests have significant repercussions on yields, income and food security. One solution is fertilizer, particularly if locally produced. The bank provided $100 million to support construction of a modern fertilizer plant in Port Harcourt, the oil city.
Shuaibu Yusuf, a farmer in his thirties who lives near Port Harcourt, said he has experienced the impact of this project in his daily life. “When I used this fertilizer, I saw the difference. My harvest increased by more than 40 percent. I can feed myself, pay for my children’s education, and even their medical expenses,” he says. Shuaibu said he would encourage his children, his neighbours and members of his community to increase their farming activities, so that they can all progress together.
For “Integrate Africa,” AfDB aims to integrate Africa better, in terms of trade and market in or der to derive more benefit from industrialisation. The bank says through integration,
African countries can gain access to larger markets and thereby increase incomes for millions of residents through new opportunities.
Since 2015, at least 69 million Africans have benefited from the bank’s support for new transport infrastructure that has advanced integration. Gaps in the primary transport corridors have been filled, links between countries have been strengthened, and intraAfrican trade has been revitalised.
A good example of this is the Nairobi-Addis-Ababa corridor, which received $670 million in AfDB financing, and which has enhanced the potential for trade and job growth in Ethiopia and Kenya.
Daniel Yatta, a 41-yearold Kenyan lorry driver, says he has been transporting goods between Nairobi and Addis-Ababa for 15 years, and has seen the new road’s impact on his business. “Back in the day, it would take more than two weeks to drive between Addis and Nairobi,” he says. The new road has made his life much easier. “With the new road, the trip takes only a few days. With 30 tonnes of freight, it only takes about 24 hours to drive to Addis,” he says.
Under the AfDB’s “Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa,” it has since 2015, supported projects that have given 43 million Africans access to water and sanitation. The bank says an important part of improving living conditions is providing better access to essential services such as health, water and sanitation.