Côte d'Ivoire's President Alassane Ouattara, on Thursday, 4 September 2014, received the Board of Directors and senior management of the African Development Bank (AfDB) at the Presidency in Abidjan.
"We are here to solemnly announce the AfDB's return to its headquarters," Kaberuka, told the Ivorian President. "We have taken up the challenge," he added.
Both the Ivorian Government and the Bank assumed this task since the return was announced at the Bank's annual meetings in Tanzania in 2012 until the adoption and implementation of the roadmap in Marrakech, Morocco, the following year. The AfDB President also reiterated the Bank's appreciation of the numerous concessions made by the Ivorian authorities to ensure an orderly return of staff to Abidjan.
"There has been a profound internal transformation of the Bank in terms of size, staffing, structures, operations, resources and expectations of the continent. This is a Bank that is different from the one that left Côte d'Ivoire in 2003. The majority of our staff are discovering the country; they are mostly enthusiastic, despite some difficulties encountered in settling down."
Donald Kaberuka also spoke of the Bank's 50th anniversary celebrations in November as well as of the AfDB's commitment to support the economic and inclusive growth of the country.
