The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Donald Kaberuka and some members of the Bank's senior management began an official mission to China on Monday, with a series of engagements with Chinese government officials, fund managers and development oriented think-tanks.
President Kaberuka shared his experiences on African and global development issues garnered during his ten-year tenure at the head of AfDB, thanked Chinese government officials and heads of development and allied institutions for their support during those years, and sought their continued bilateral and multilateral support to his successor in particular and to Africa in General.
The mission kicked off in Beijing with engagements with the deputy foreign affairs minister, Zhang Ming who commended Mr. Kaberuka for strengthening cooperation between China and the Bank in particular and China's relations with Africa in general.
He cited the Bank's 2007 Annual Meetings held in Shanghai and the Africa Growing Together Fund among the landmark China-AfDB collaboration championed President Kaberuka.
"You are a champion in Africa's financial sector," the deputy minister said, noting that Mr. Kaberuka will continue to be a valued asset for Africa after he retires from the Bank at the end of August.
For his part, President Kaberuka said that African and China needed to take their cooperation to the next level with regards to the continent's industrialization, noting that the AfDB would continue to be an enabler in this collaboration.
The delegation held a long session with Ms. Jin Qi, President of the Silk Road Fund and its
General Manager, Wand Yanzhi on the fund's architecture and areas in which it can collaborate with the AfDB and Africa.
Discussions with the Chinese Central Bank Governor, Zhou Xiaochuan and assistant finance minister, Zou Jiayi focused on new ways of doing business and how the AfDB and Africa can buy into development funding vehicles initiated by China such as the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the BRICS, among others.
President Kaberuka shared his wide-ranging views on the future of development funding during a Round Table discussion on 'Investment opportunities in Africa" organized by the Centre for China and Globalisation, underscoring the fact that multilateral development banks need to adapt to the changing dynamics of development.
