Final Communique of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (Adb) and the Forty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund (ADF)

15 June 2019
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

WE, the Governors, representing Member Countries of the African Development Bank and State Participants of the African Development Fund (the "Bank Group"), meeting in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea for the 2019 Annual Meetings from 11th to 14th June 2019 under the chairmanship of His Excellency CESAR AUGUSTO MBA ABOGO, Governor for the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Minister of Finance and Chairperson of the Boards of Governors:

1. Deeply appreciate the presence of His Excellency MR. TEODORO OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO, President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, His Majesty KING LETSIE III, King of the Kingdom of Lesotho, His Excellency MR. FÉLIX ANTOINE TSHILOMBO TSHISEKEDI, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Right Honorable MR. AMBROSE MANDVULO DLAMINI, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini, His Excellency MOUSSA FAKI MAHAMAT, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Minister MR. LOUIS PAUL MOTAZE, representing His Excellency MR. Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon, Honorable Minister, Mr. Felix Moloua, representing His Excellency Mr. Faustin Archange Touadera, President of Central African Republic, Honorable Minister MME. CLAUDINE UWERA, representing His Excellency Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda,Honorable Minister MR. ADAMA KONE, representing His Excellency Mr. Mr. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, Honorable Heads of Institutions of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Excellences, Ambassadors and Members of the Diplomatic Corps;

2. Endorse the statements by the Chairperson of the Boards of Governors, His Excellency CESAR AUGUSTO MBA ABOGO, and the Bank Group President, Dr. AKINWUMI A. ADESINA, in expressing gratitude to the Government and People of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea for hosting these Annual Meetings and for their hospitality and immense contributions towards the success of the meetings;

3. Note the statement by His Excellency TEODORO OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO, President of Equatorial Guinea in commending the impacts achieved in development operations, particularly in the area of regional integration, and in encouraging the Bank Group to continue on this trajectory;

4. Note the statements made at the Governors' Dialogue, including confirmation that regional integration remains one of the major comparative advantages of the Bank Group. We urge the Bank Group to continue with its current initiatives, with emphasis on: investments in quality infrastructure; enhanced dialogue and support towards harmonizing policy and regulatory frameworks; and investments in projects with regional footprints and which integrate peace and security considerations;

5. Re-affirm our strong support for the Bank Group. In this connection, we commend the progress made by the Governors' Consultative Committee (GCC) in the discussions towards a Seventh General Capital Increase (GCI-VII) for the African Development Bank. We authorize the GCC to continue discussions in its final meeting in September

on a comprehensive package of institutional, operational, and financial measures to reinforce the Bank's capacity. We will re-convene in an extra-ordinary session in October 2019 to consider the GCC's final report on the GCI-VII;

6. Thank Canada for providing temporary callable capital of up to $1.1 billion, to help protect the AAA rating of the Bank. We approved this temporary increase in the authorised capital resources of the Bank and the subscription thereto by Canada;

7. Take note of the on-going negotiations for a Fifteenth Replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF-15) and look forward to a timely and successful outcome;

8. Approved the application of Ireland to become a State Participant in the African Development Fund and a member of the African Development Bank; and authorised a Special Capital Increase for the purposes thereof. We encourage the speedy conclusion of all processes towards effectuating these decisions;

9. Consistent with the theme of the Annual Meetings "Regional Integration for Africa's Prosperity", encourage the Bank Group to continue to work with the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to fast-track Africa's integration and economic and social transformation particularly in view of the entry into force of the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area, which has the potential to increase growth, enhance competitiveness, improve the business climate, as well as ensure greater investment and development of regional and continental global value chains;

10. Encourage the Bank Group to focus on its areas of comparative advantage within the global development landscape while exploring areas of synergies and coordination with other development partners for accelerating the implementation of its High 5 priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa as well as the objectives of the African Union Agenda 2063;

11. Welcome the independent evaluation of the implementation of the Bank Group's Development and Business Delivery Model (DBDM). While we acknowledge progress in implementation, we urge the Bank Group to intensify efforts to strengthen its capacity to manage risk, build a stronger performance culture, enhance accountability and efficiency, and deliver high quality operations that have an impact on the ground and provide value for money;

12. Call on the Bank Group to step up its support to African countries to enhance capacity in domestic resource mobilization, public financial management, debt management and transparency, combatting corruption and stemming the tide of illicit financial flows;

13. Encourage sustained investments in the private sector in Africa. In this regard, we call on the Bank Group to increase the focus of its support to sectorial policy and regulatory reforms with the aim of fostering a business-friendly environment;

14. Call on the Bank Group to strengthen its effectiveness, including by developing regional approaches, and to respond to the unique needs of countries in fragile and conflict situations;

15. Call for sustained focus on the climate agenda, including the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the continued use of renewable energy towards achieving inclusive economic growth; The United States does not join the consensus on this paragraph

16. Call for increased capacity to strengthen implementation of the Bank Group's social and environmental safeguards and for continued improvements in the accountability mechanism so that aggrieved parties have a voice and can seek redress;

17. Commend the successful launch of the Africa Investment Forum, the leveraging of approximately $38 billion in investment commitments to projects in Africa and the emergence of the Forum as a unique transaction-based marketplace to attract institutional investments and global financing towards Africa. We encourage the Bank Group to pursue efforts towards operationalizing the Forum's online platform as well as improving its efficiency and financial sustainability, which can help the Forum leverage significant new investment commitments for projects in Africa;

18. Call on the Bank Group to increase efforts towards creating more and better jobs, including by providing opportunities for the youth to help stem migration from the continent. Accordingly, we call for the speedy implementation of the Bank Group's Jobs for Youth Initiative;

19. Encourage a stronger commitment to gender equality in Bank Group operations in order to enhance human progress and structural transformation in RMCs. In this regard, we commend the Bank Group for the partnerships it is forging to increase women's economic empowerment and access to finance, including through the Affirmative Finance Facility for Women in Africa (AFAWA);

20. Commend the Boards of Directors, Management and staff of the Bank Group for the operational and financial performance in 2018; and welcome the unqualified opinion of the Bank Group's external auditors on the financial statements ending 31 December 2018 and also their confirmation of the effectiveness of the internal controls of the Bank Group;

21. Congratulate the newly-elected Executive Directors and assure them of our full support. We thank the out-going Executive Directors for their service to the Bank Group and wish them well in their future endeavours.

22. Look forward to the next Annual Meetings scheduled for 25th - 29th May 2020, in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

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