ACBF's regional capacity building initiatives received a major boost, when AfDB signed a USD12million Grant agreement with the Foundation to assist in financing the second phase of the Foundation's strategic medium term plan.
Since inception, AfDB has been a major partner to ACBF, providing long-term support to the Foundation's capacity development programs in Africa through various interventions in ACBFs core competency areas.
In a speech to mark the agreement between the two organisations, in Tunis, on 12th January, ACBF Executive Secretary thanked the Bank for consistently supporting the operations of her organization since its inception. She noted that in addition to contributions amounting to some USD 24 million, the new grant of USD 12 million was particularly consistent with capacity building strategies of the two institutions. This current agreement brings the African Development Bank Group's contributions to ACBF to a cumulative amount of USD 36 million.
"AfDB, through the African Development Institute, plays a guiding role in coordinating not only the capacity building input from various departments of the Bank and is at the helm of the Bank Group's warm collaborative partnership with ACBF. As our Foundation celebrates 20 years of capacity development in Africa, we are delighted that AfDB remains one of our strongest strategic allies. The ongoing commitment from the Bank Group is further testament to the fact that our partners consider ACBF to be a safe place to invest their money and is a great example of sustainable, long term partnership for Africa's development.
Signing the grant agreement on behalf the Bank, AfDB's Chief Economist and Vice-President, Prof. Mthuli Ncube expressed his satisfaction that the Foundation had contributed to development process of the continent by building indigenous capacity for development policy formulation as well as by enhancing the interface between the public sector, the private sector and civil society. This, according to him, has helped to reverse the brain drain from the continent while ensuring the retention as well as intensive utilization of existing capacity. Prof. Ncube however underscored the point that the continent still lacked capacity to leverage and transform its immense natural resources from being a curse to a blessing. He regretted that Africa's lack of capacity in most countries is constraining the building competitive economies, saying: "Today, there is need for a public sector that is knowledgeable, efficient and committed; a private sector that is innovative, competitive while being conscious of the impact on the environment; a civil society that is constructively responsive; and a socio-political environment which promotes good governance and inclusive growth. In order terms, there is a need for a Strong, Sustained and Shared growth."
He concluded that the signature of this grant agreement is a worthy recognition of the tremendous work done by Dr. Frannie Léautier and her team in restoring the credibility of the ACBF and restoring its internal capacity to provide support to countries in a way that complement their actions. Under her able leadership, he said, the Foundation has regained its momentum and African countries are increasing their financial contributions and pledges to the Foundation.
