AfDB 2011 Partnerships Forum Focuses On Regional Integration

10 February 2011
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will hold its 2011 annual Partnerships Forum from 22-23 March 2011, at Hotel Ramada Plaza-Gammarth in Tunis, Tunisia, with a focus on regional integration. Participants at the forum will include representatives of bilateral and multilateral donors, the private sector, foundations and knowledge institutions.

The Partnerships and Cooperation Unit (ORRU) head, Kazumi Larhed, says the choice of regional integration as the forum's theme is relevant to Africa's development and in line with the Bank's focus areas. "The Bank's partnership-building efforts are well aligned with its core mandates that include infrastructure, governance, private sector development, and higher education.... And the Banks' 2008-20102 medium-term strategy encourages the institution to build more effective partnerships based on clearer and more specific agreements to deliver well-articulated results, " she addsed.

Partnering on Regional Integration

The Bank's performance on regional integration has improved in recent years, with regional operations investments accounting for 14% of total Bank group lending between 2008-2010, with a focus on infrastructure including transport (40.3%), energy (7.4%) and information and communication technology (2.7%). The Forum will seek to enhance dialogue on the sector and especially explore further innovative resources mobilization and improving service delivery for beneficiaries.

The Bank's partnerships portfolio has considerably grown in diversity and complexity, largely due to its enhanced institutional credibility and visibility as Africa's premier development finance institution. A growing number of diverse partners are willing to renew and intensify their cooperation with the institution, notably in the areas of trust funds, co-financing, technical cooperation, secondment, staff exchanges, special initiatives, and research and knowledge engagements.

AfDB's Partnerships Objectives

The Partnerships and Cooperation Unit is the Bank's focal point in promoting co-operation between the AfDB and external partners globally. The Unit is responsible for managing strategic partnerships with traditional and emerging bilateral donors, multilateral and regional development agencies, knowledge and academic institu-tions, as well as private foundations.

Its overall goal is to mobilize additional financial and technical resources to support the implementation of the Bank's 2008-2011 Medium-term Strategy.

The Unit's activities include:

Informing partners of the Bank's policies, strategies and procedures related to trust funds, technical cooperation and co-financing opportunities;

Developing and implementing new strategies and instruments to expand and deepen engagements with partners; and

Establishing innovative partnership arrangements to support the Bank's strategic priorities, through Memoranda of Understanding and Cooperation Agreements with partners worldwide.

Contacts

Sanogo Bakary

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