The African Development Bank (AfDB) has called on the US to scale up investments in Africa and take advantage of opportunities which other global players are already seizing.
Speaking at a high-level dialogue in Washington DC on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF Spring meetings this week, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said that as the world’s private sector leader, the United States had a unique role to play in increasing investments in Africa and expanding opportunities for the US private sector.
“It is widely accepted that Africa is an investment hub,” said US congresswoman Karen Bass, chairwoman of the House Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa. “I personally and many of my colleagues will continue to advocate for full funding or increased funding to the Bank,” she told attendees.
Answering questions about the Bank’s innovative Africa Investment Forum, Adesina said “this first-ever gathering of world-class investors exceeded all expectations with projects worth over US$38.7 billion securing investment interest in just 72 hours.”
The Africa Investment Forum was convened by the African Development Bank in Johannesburg in November last year in partnership with several African development finance institutions, to help bridge the continent’s growing infrastructure investment gap.
