Election of Bank Group's new President, commemoration of 50th Anniversary, formal admission of South Sudan as the Bank Group's 80th member country
Delegates from across the globe will converge next week at the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) taking place from May 25 to 29 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire's financial capital.
The 50th Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank's Board of Governors and the 41st Meetings of the Board of Governors for the Bank's concessionary window, the African Development Fund (ADF), signal the Bank Group's return to its headquarters in 2014 after more than 11 years' relocation in Tunis, Tunisia.
Other highpoints of the meetings are the election of the Bank's 8th President, the commemoration of its 50th anniversary, and the formal admission of South Sudan as its 54th regional member country and its 80th global member.
More than 2,500 delegates including heads of state and government are expected to attend the meetings led by the Bank's Governors, usually Finance Ministers and Central Bank Chiefs who represent their countries at the topmost hierarchy of the Bank. Other participants would include representatives of multilateral development finance institutions, development agencies, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, civil society and the media.
The gathering will review the Bank's 2014 operations and its 2015 portfolio, as well as Africa's thematic concerns such as regional integration and trade, infrastructure, private sector development, job creation, governance as well as inclusive and green growth.
The 2015 Seminar series includes High Level Events, which will include the direct participation of Heads of State and Government; signature events such as the launching of flagship reports; seminars which will focus on recent economic and policy debate in Africa; and audience events which provides a platform for groups to discuss topics with their constituencies.
In tune with the theme of the Annual Meetings, "Africa and the New Global Landscape", the seminars will explore topics within a broad policy perspective, focusing on how the changing global economy is affecting Africa's development, and how Africa should respond. They look at how to finance development in Africa, how to address inequalities and create employment, and how to respond to the challenge of climate change. Some of the seminars will be linked to the launching of flagship reports, including the African Economic Outlook, an Index for measuring gender gaps, and launch of the African Futures Report.
The AfDB, Africa's premier development finance institution, was established in 1964 to mobilize resources for the economic and social development of its regional member countries (RMCs) by promoting sustainable and inclusive growth and poverty reduction. The Bank has approved 4,185 loans and grants totaling US $107.6 billion to its Regional (African) Member Countries from 1967 to 2014.
