At a side event during the 2025 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) held on 29 May 2025, the AfDB, African Union Commission, Heads of Africa's Regional Economic Communities, Development Finance Institutions and other continental institutions convened for their Fourth Meeting to strengthen pan-African cooperation and regional integration action. Focus was on how to better mobilize resources, deliver flagship regional projects, and align advocacy for Africa's transformation.
Present were senior leaders from the AfDB Group, AUC, AUDA-NEPAD, UNECA, COMESA, SADC, UEMOA, IGAD, EAC, ECOWAS, Conseil de l'Entente, AGF, AFRICA 50, BOAD, DBSA, EBID, and TDB.
Key Themes Discussed
Accelerating regional integration emerged as a crucial theme - with levers like the African Continental Free Trade Area and its steady implementation, private sector development, domestic resource mobilization, investment in infrastructure, and dealing with the cost of money in Africa - all singled out as deserving urgent attention.
Participants explored innovative ways to mobilize capital to finance large-scale infrastructure including through access to Special Drawing Rights, addressing the issue of risk premium and improving the level of domestic resource mobilization. They stressed the need to prioritize approaches that address Africa's pressing youth unemployment challenge. In this regard, boosting industrialization - learning from the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) experience to develop a pipeline of projects to support industrialization was discussed.
Major Commitments and Initiatives
Participants expressed strong commitment to support the 17th replenishment of the Africa Development Fund, the South African G 20 Presidency legacy initiatives on supporting cross border infrastructure in Africa, and to activate the Technical Cooperation Platform to offer working-level joint action through planning and execution with strengthened coordination and synergy. A previously proposed Joint Action Plan (2025-2027) at a technical preparatory session which prioritized corridors, trade facilitation, industrialization among others - was welcomed.
Closing Appreciation and Forward Look
In closing, Participants expressed unwavering commitment to deepening joint work to accelerate regional integration in Africa, and expressed special thanks to President Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank, for his impactful leadership over the last 10 years at the helm of the AfDB.
