Lusaka — The President of the African Development Bank Group, Donald Kaberuka, begins a two-day official visit to Zambia from Thursday 31 July to 2 August 2008.
While in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, Mr. Kaberuka will hold talks with top government officials, including Vice President Rupiah Banda as well as Finance and National Planning Minister, Uganda Peter Magande. He will also participate at the official opening of the AfDB Zambia Field Office in Lusaka.
"The talks will, among others, centre on the strong cooperation between the AfDB Group and the Zambian government. The two sides will also discuss the possibility of leveraging support for Zambia's private sector.
Zambia joined the AfDB, Africa's premier development finance institution, in 1966 and first borrowed from the Bank in 1971. The AfDB has since invested close to US$980 million in the Zambian economy. Some US$917 million of this amount went to the public sector while US$58 million has been invested in the private sector.
These investments have been closely linked to government priorities, including poverty reduction, improved water and energy supply as well as agriculture and infrastructure development.
The AfDB's active portfolio in Zambia currently stands at US$ 220 million, deployed mainly in agriculture, water and sanitation, health, education and multi-sector budget support. Some US$50 million of this portfolio is in the private sector.
The Bank's stated priorities for investments in Zambia will continue to be infrastructure development, energy, governance support and regional integration. It will also continue supporting other government priority areas including the manufacturing, mining, tourism, construction and financial sectors.
The Bank endorses Zambia's Fifth National Development and the National Vision 2030 and works to strengthen the local ownership of the country's development process.
