Many participants to the 2010 Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group have arrived in Abidjan for the 27-28 May landmark meetings. Several heads of state and government will also attend.
The election of the Bank Group's President, the approval of the its sixth General Capital Increase and the 12th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF), are on top of the events agenda. In addition to the high-level seminars and symposiums on critical African and global issues, the Governors are also expected to approve the creation of two new constituencies, raising the number of Board Chairs from 18 to 20.
A committee of Governors representing AfDB shareholders met on 23 April 2010 in Washington D.C., and endorsed the tripling of the Bank's capital resources to nearly USD 100 billion.
Taking place at the Palais des Congrès in Hôtel Ivoire, Abidjan, the Annual Meetings follow a busy operational year during which the Bank more than doubled its portfolio in its Regional Member Countries (RMCs). In 2009, the Bank's project and programme approvals more than doubled to USD 12 billion, compared to approvals of USD 5.4 billion in 2008. Infrastructure accounts for half of all the approvals during the year.
The AfDB Annual Meetings, usually held in May, constitute the biggest gathering of financial and development experts on the continent. Finance ministers, senior government officials, business leaders, academics, media, and representatives of international organizations and the civil society, make up the over 1,500 participants who attend the meetings.
Governors, usually finance and economy ministers and central bank governors representing the 77-member countries (53 Regional and 24 non-Regional countries), constitute the AfDB's highest policy-making body. The annual meetings are statutory occasions for the governors to review the Bank Group's administrative, financial and operational activities in the past financial year and provide guidance on its future operations.
This year, Governors sessions will be preceded by deliberations of the Coalition for Development on Africa (CoDA) beginning on 24 May. Launched in March 2009, CoDA, a joint venture of the AfDB, the African Union Commission and the Economic Commission for Africa, is a successor forum to the Global Coalition for Africa, the OECD 'Big Table' and the African Development Forum. It is chaired by former Botswana President, Festus Moghae, and has Jean Ping, AU Commission chairperson, Mo Ibrahim, chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Cheikh Diarra, chairman of Microsoft Africa, and Donald Kaberuka, president of AfDB as members.
There will also be high-level and thematic seminars on the theme: "Africa on the Rebound: Toward Balanced and Clean Growth" will precede activities leading up to the Board sessions. These include discussions on "Climate Change and Development Financing", "Measuring Development in Resource Based and Rural/Informal Economies", "Rebalancing the Role of the State and Market", "Climate Change - Implications for Agriculture and Food Security in Africa", "Capacity-Led Growth: Lessons from Emerging Countries", and "Turning Africa's Resources and Revenue into Results"
A presentation of the 2010 Africa Progress Report by the Africa Progress Panel will be followed by the "CEO's Dialogue: Taking Africa to The Next Level through Business".
The thematic seminars will include the launch of "Making Finance Work for Africa" Website, dissemination of the African Economic Outlook 2010, an African Financial Markets Initiative Workshop on "Strategic management of international reserves for domestic bond market development in Africa" and the "Role of Independent Oversight in Promoting the Development Effectiveness of the Bank Group"
There will also be presentations on the "Findings and Policy Implications of The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)", "Agriculture and Agro-business" and "Mobile Commerce" CITI - African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)".
Participants will also discuss "Women in Fragile States: From Passive Victims of Violence to Active Agents of Change, and "Strengthening the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism (AFFM) to address Food Security and Poverty Reduction in Africa.
Other sessions will include "Migration and remittances in Africa", "From Survival to Growth: Industrial Clusters and Micro-Enterprises in Africa", "Mobilizing the African Diaspora for Capacity Building and Development: Focus on Fragile States", as well as an African Capital Markets Workshop on "Sovereign Debt Issuance: going the domestic or international route?"
Also on the agenda is an African Business Leadership Award.
Representatives of the civil society and non-governmental organizations will participate in the meetings and sessions.
Ivorian President, Laurent Gbagbo, is scheduled to preside over the formal opening session on 27 May 2010. Other African leaders are scheduled to attend the session.
The AfDB 2010 Annual Meetings will wrap up on 28 May 2010.
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Félix Njoku
