Africa Bank AGM opens in Tanzania

crucial meeting to set the African economic agenda.
Secretary-general and vice-president of the African Development Bank Group, Ms Cecilia Akintomide, told CAJ News that the AGM would participants discussing finance and the world economy, presently affected by an unprecedented  crisis.
“This is the most critical AGM aimed at consolidating some inroads achieved by fellow African member-states, while driving out poverty and mismanagement in order to improve the continent economically,” said Ms Akintomide. This comes at a time most African countries are enjoying greater economic growth rates than the rest of the world.
The delegates, according to Ms Akintomide, would also debate the AfDB’s role in promoting growth as well as the long-term outlook for the group.
The AGM will begin with a Press conference at its temporary location in Tunis.
The secretary-general’s Press conference is expected to simultaneously take place alongside other Press briefings to be held at the bank offices across Africa, including Nairobi, Kenya.
The African Development Bank has meanwhile established a Fund to absolve the risk of SME funding on the continent. The fund takes on 50 percent of the risk of commercial banks in lending to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Africa.
The fund will address African SMEs’ and entrepreneurs’ key constraint of access to finance, an official has said. Speaking to journalists at the bank’s headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, yesterday, director of the Private Sector Department of the Bank, Mr Tim Turner said the African Guarantee Fund was established two years ago with the help of the governments of Denmark and Spain.
The Fund, which is now operational, is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
“The Fund will have a pan-African mandate, and will help financial institutions that are lending to SMEs to scale up their business, ” he said.
“It was created to help commercial banks to lend to SMEs,” he said.
He said Denmark and Spain provided US$40 million and the AfDB provided US$10 million to start the Fund. “We would like to mobilise US$500 million for the Fund,” he said.
Mr Turner also emphasised the importance of the private sector in Africa’s development.
Private sector development is on the bank’s top four priorities. He mentioned infrastructure, governance, high education and private sector as the bank’s four strategic priorities.  — CAJ News.