The ALSF Management Board is composed of (from left to right): Amadou Dieng (Senegal); Stephen Karangizi, the Director and CEO of the ALSF; Dorcas Achapa (Kenya) as Chairperson; Dandi Gnamou (Benin); Mohammed Rafique (Mozambique); and Bruce Montador (Canada).

The African Legal Support Facility's (ALSF) Management Board held its 24th meeting at the Facility's headquarters in Abidjan to consider key matters concerning the ALSF. These included the 2017 Financial Report and Project Implementation Report, to assess recent operational achievements, and to review the draft 2017 Annual Report.

A representative of the African Development Bank Financial Control Department, which manages ALSF finances, provided the highlights of the Facility's financial status as of December 2017. The Board commended the Facility's team for attaining a record of US $10.9 million disbursements and for launching 36 new projects in 2017.

Following the assessment of the auditor's report, the Board proceeded to discuss and review a draft version of its 2017 Annual Report. The Report shows that the ALSF's operations remain efficient and produce comparatively broad benefits for its end-users and Member Countries. Alongside other significant achievements made in 2017, the Facility provided creditor litigation support and advisory services to Guinea-Bissau, which saved the country over US $45 million by reducing an existing debt with a key creditor by 90 percent.

Korea Set to Host 2018 African Development Bank Annual Meetings

"Aside from the 2017 Winter Olympics, the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank this May in Korea, is the most important event on our calendar," says Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, KIM Dong-yeon. The Republic of Korea will host the 53rd Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group in the port city of Busan on May 21-25, 2018. Korea has a long history of supporting African development. It joined the Bank in 1982, and has significant status as a recipient-turned-donor country.

Additionally, the most recent Annual Report draws the attention of the Facility's partners to important cross-cutting issues addressed by the ALSF, namely gender-mainstreaming and environmental sustainability. At the project level, the Facility has worked to broaden the access of women to capacity building events and knowledge management products, by encourage female participation and by explicitly designing projects to maximize positive social transformation.

The ALSF Management Board works to ensure the efficient and effective conduct of all operations of the Facility, and is responsible for the approval of the Budget and appointment of the Director. The Board is composed of five members, appointed by the Governing Council for a three-year non-renewable term. The current members of the Board include Dorcas Achapa (Kenya) as Chairperson, Dandi Gnamou (Benin), Bruce Montador (Canada), Amadou Dieng (Senegal) and Mohammed Rafique (Mozambique). Stephen Karangizi, the Director and CEO of the ALSF, is an ex-officio member of the Board.

For more information: http://www.aflsf.org