2022 was a year of renewed confidence in the African Development Bank Group. Contributing countries mobilized and contributed $8.9 billion to replenish the African Development Fund under ADF-16. Furthermore, they acceded to the request of the Bank Group's Senior Management to create a Special Climate Action Window under ADF-16.
Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain, the Swiss Confederation, Germany, and the Global Energy Alliance are providing significant financial support to the Bank to finance sectors vital to development. Whether it is to boost renewable energies, fight climate change, promote the Lusophone Pact or develop the agricultural sector, their commitment has been exceptional, thus testifying to the shareholders' increased confidence in the Bank's efforts to foster the continent's development.
For its part, the Board of Executive Directors, led by the Bank's President, Akinwumi Adesina, took seriously the looming threat of food and social crises in African countries in the wake of Russia's war in Ukraine. The Board swiftly set up a $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility, and in less than two weeks, deployed $1.3 billion for this purpose. This year has also allowed Dr. Adesina to witness the impact of the Bank's work on the ground. He paid working visits to several countries across the continent; Morocco, Cabo Verde, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, and Mauritania, among others, where he saw at first hand the results of the Bank's life-changing intervention in these countries and, above all, on the beneficiary populations.
Below is a snapshot of the African Development Bank Group's work in 2022.
January
African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi Adesina visited the $19.5 billion Dangote Industries Limited Crude Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Production Plant in Lagos, Nigeria.
In Senegal, President Adesina was received by the Head of State, Macky Sall. Dr. Adesina visited Bank-financed projects such as the Dakar-Diamniadio regional express train. He announced support for the Louis Pasteur Referral Laboratory, which will soon start producing messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines for Covid-19 and other diseases.
February
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved $379.6 million in funding for the Desert to Power Facility for G5 Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger).
African Development Bank Group President, Akinwumi Adesina, joins Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the official launch of the construction of the historic Dodoma City Outer Ring Road Project.
March
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved a new strategy to address fragility and build resilience in Africa for the period 2022-2026. The strategy proposes a five-year roadmap for building more resilient institutions, economies, and societies across the continent.
American basketball giant and eight-time NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo, and the African Development Bank President, Akinwumi Adesina, accompanied by former legendary Ivorian football team captain, Didier Drogba, inaugurated a first-class sports facility for young orphans in Bingerville, Côte d'Ivoire
April
President Akinwumi Adesina visited the United Arab Emirates. Several commitments were made in Dubai and Abu Dhabi during the three-day visit.
The African Development Bank Group signed a Protocol Agreement with the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to support the implementation of the Pan-African Organization's Agenda 2063.
May
The African Development Fund, the concessional window of the Bank Group, marked the milestone of 50 years of actions and achievements in Africa's most fragile countries. Organized within the framework of the Group's Annual Meetings, the occasion brought together beneficiaries and donors to discuss the Fund's impact and performance.
The Bank Group's 2022 Annual Meetings took place in Accra, Ghana, on the theme: "Fostering Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition in Africa".
Annual Meetings 2022: AfDB President's speech at the Closing Ceremony
In Abidjan, the Bank Group's Board of Directors approved the creation of the $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility to help African countries avert a looming food crisis that could result from Russia's war in Ukraine.
June
U.S. President Joe Biden announced support for the African Development Bank's initiative to significantly increase food production in Africa to avert the looming food crisis which could result from the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The Bank's Board of Directors endorsed the creation of the African Foundation for Pharmaceutical Technology. This ground-breaking organization will significantly expand Africa's access to the technologies underpinning the manufacture of medicines, vaccines, and other pharmaceutical products.
The African Development Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank signed a pact to enhance their collaboration.
July
Bank Group President Akinwumi Adesina reassured U.S. investors gathered in Marrakech for the U.S.-Africa Business Summit: "Africa is a safe, competitive and profitable market."
The global credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, confirmed African Development Bank's "AAA" long-term credit rating with a stable outlook. This affirmation represented a recognition of the Bank's strong financial profile and the tremendous support of its shareholders.
Publish What You Fund, the global aid transparency organization, recognized the African Development Bank as the most transparent organization in the world.
The Bank's Board of Directors approved a loan of EUR 121 million to Senegal to implement an emergency agricultural program for 850,000 small-scale producers. It was the first approval under the deployment of the African Emergency Food Production Facility.
August
Japan and the African Development Bank announced financial cooperation, which could reach $5 billion, under the 5th phase of the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance Initiative in Africa, for 2023-2025. They made the announcement in Tunis on the sidelines of the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8).
The largest U.S. organization of African-American journalists and media professionals honored the African Development Bank with the Salute to Excellence Award for its Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) initiative.
September
The Egyptian government and the African Development Bank Group signed a Protocol Agreement to Host the Bank Group's Annual Meetings in May 2023.
The African Development Bank, rated "AAA" by the world's leading rating agencies (Moody's, S&P, Fitch and Japan Credit Rating) with a stable outlook, issued a $100 million thematic bond maturing in September 2029.
Nigeria's Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, and the African Development Bank Group President, Akinwumi Adesina, while in New York, urged global businesses and policymakers to invest in Nigeria.
Bank Group President Adesina undertook an official visit to Mauritania to "give a new impetus" to the Bank's partnership with the country: "We stand by Mauritania to accelerate the increase in capacity and range of its productive sectors such as wheat, red meat, fisheries and mining."
October
The African Development Bank and its partners launched Nigeria's $520 million Special Agri-business Processing Zones Programme. The initiative will help modernize agriculture and develop agri-business in the most populous African country. Eleven countries across Africa are implementing the program.
On the occasion of the Finance in Common Summit, organized in Abidjan, the first time in Africa, five new public development banks - the Development Bank of Latin America, the Development Bank of Rwanda, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti - Italian Investment Bank, the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency and the Netherlands Development Finance Corporation - signed the Paris Declaration on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment.
African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina was named "African Man of the Year 2022" by Exclusive Men of the Year, recognizing his leadership and vision at the helm of the Bank, in addition to his outstanding commitment to Africa during his tenure as Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture.
November
Published by the African Development Bank, the African Union and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Africa Industrialization Index report showed that 37 of the 52 African countries increased their level of industrialization over the past 11 years.
At COP-27 in Egypt, Germany pledged EUR 40 million to the Bank's Climate Action Window for fragile African States.
The Africa Investment Forum's "Market Days" - the continent's leading investment platform - catalyzed $31 billion of interest from African and international investors.
December
After a year of intense negotiations amid a challenging global economic outlook, the African Development Fund's development partners agreed to commit a total of $8.9 billion for its 2023-2025 financing cycle. The pledged amount is the largest replenishment in the Fund's history.
