A delegation of African Development Bank Group Executive Directors is preparing to travel to Zimbabwe and Mozambique to assess the impact of Bank projects in the two countries. The 10 Board members along with two Senior Advisors, representing 42 countries, will visit Zimbabwe from February 22 to 28, and Mozambique from February 28 to March 4.
"These annual field visits aim to examine the effectiveness of Bank policies and strategies, across a number of key sectors", said Mahomed Rafique, the Bank's Executive Director representing Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe on the Board of Directors. "They involve consultation with the Bank's key shareholders and stakeholders, as well as project visits. They are designed to identify gaps in the Bank Group's operations, and to offer solutions."
The visits will focus on projects in natural resources management and governance, finance sector management, and private sector development.
The Executive Directors will hold consultations with senior government officers, and pay courtesy calls on the Heads of State of the two countries. They will also hold discussions with the private sector and civil society.
The team will meet with senior officials of regional economic bodies to discuss regional integration. It will also hold sessions with international financial institutions and donor partners to discuss how to harmonise bilateral efforts, drawing from conventions such as the 2008 Accra Agenda for Action and 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.
"These visits are a critical part of our annual agenda", continued Rafique. "Executive Directors are mandated by the Board to evaluate the quality of the Bank Group's support to its regional member countries. It is an opportunity to look again at the social, economic and political challenges we confront, and to see how the Bank's work complements that of other donors. They also look closely at the challenges of achieving regional integration and inclusive growth, of combating climate change, of enhancing the role of the private sector, and of promoting small and medium enterprises.
Since 2011, the Bank has invested some US $195 million in support of Zimbabwe's economic governance initiatives, infrastructure rehabilitation and private sector development programmes.
Since commencing operations in Mozambique in 1977, the Bank Group has committed about US $2 billion in 95 operations in the country. Just over half of this funding has supported the transport sector, and a fifth has supported agriculture.
The delegation includes Board Members representing Angola, Argentina, Austria, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, India, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway, Rwanda, São Tomé & Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sweden, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
