African Development Bank President Sidi Ould Tah on Monday welcomed United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Diene Keita on her first official visit to the Bank since her appointment in August.
The two who met at the Bank's headquarters in Abidjan, discussed ways of further strengthening collaboration and advancing investment in youth and women across the African continent. Their discussions focused on critical socio-development issues, including Africa's youth bulge, family health, education and employment.
During the bilateral meeting, President Ould Tah, who took office on 1 September, emphasized the importance of partnerships and the existing relationship between the Bank and the UN population agency which began in 1988. This partnership was later cemented in 1992, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and the two institutions have collaborated on several projects ever since.
Deepening partnerships and accelerating real solutions are two of Dr. Ould Tah's four core priorities for his first 100 days in office.
"I am delighted with the quality of the partnership that already exists between the African Development Bank Group and UNFPA," he said.
Ms. Keita who holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General, was appointed as Executive Director effective 29 August 2025, by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
While hailing Secretary-General Guterres for his confidence in Ms. Keita, President Ould Tah also commended her for the appointment.
"I would like to congratulate the United Nations Secretary-General on your appointment... to lead UNFPA, especially in these difficult times, when we need expertise, commitment and the ability to develop partnerships," President Ould Tah said.
The Bank's President highlighted notable partnership examples of the two organisations in Africa, such as the "2 Hours for Life" program implemented in Benin, Togo, and Côte d'Ivoire, which deploys drones to remote areas eliminating delays in emergency obstetric care.
"Today, we have an opportunity to change the paradigm and bring a new dimension to the partnership between UNFPA and the African Development Bank Group, notably by making these two institutions the core of a broad partnership for all other partners concerned with issues related to youth and women, maternal and child health," he said.
For her part, Ms. Keita reiterated the importance of partnerships to address the crisis of multilateralism and the need to mobilise resources internationally for their joint mandates. She outlined several areas for proposed collaboration, including youth, health financing, women's empowerment, climate resilience, peace and security.
"Working with the Bank and opening up this future partnership with all the agencies working together is imperative. We are concerned about population and maternal health, and we must work together to ensure that these issues are addressed," Ms. Keita said.
President Ould Tah announced that an African Development Bank team would work hand in hand with UNFPA to develop a new partnership framework document, to identify pilot projects, "likely starting with Côte d'Ivoire, which is our host country."
He reiterated his conviction on the critical role of partnerships in getting the job done.
"I believe that our joint action will enable us to mobilize many other partners who are committed to these issues, especially with this new, much more pragmatic approach... We need real solutions that cannot be partial solutions...we need everyone," the president said.
