AFDB Archives - Wontumi Online

29 Apr

AfDB Approves $999,000 Grant To Support Green Jobs

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The African Development Bank (AfDB), through its Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (YEI MDTF), has greenlit a $999,000 grant to bolster an initiative fostering environmentally friendly employment opportunities for women, youth, and individuals with disabilities, Graphic Online reports. Dubbed the MicroGREEN project, the endeavor seeks to catalyze inclusive economic advancement by furnishing up to 500 green job openings and business support services to marginalized segments in Ghana and Senegal. Specifically targeting women, youth, and individuals with disabilities, the project will engage them in overseeing natural resource sectors such as agroforestry, fisheries, and biodiversity. Over a two-year span, MicroGREEN…

10 Oct

Natural Resource-Backed Loans Disaster For Africa – IMF, AfDB Warns

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has strongly supported a call by the African Development Bank Group urging countries in Africa to stop borrowing loans backed by their natural resources. The IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, met Thursday, October 5, 2023, with the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire. It is the first time an IMF head has visited the Bank headquarters since its establishment in 1964. Welcoming Madama Georgieva, Dr. Adesina said, “The natural resource-backed loans are non-transparent, expensive and make debt resolution difficult.” He warned that if the trend continues, “it…

10 Oct

AfDB, EBID Sign Loan Agreement For $50 Million And €50

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The African Development Bank Group and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) have signed an agreement for a dual currency line of credit, comprising $50 million and €50 million to support local agricultural businesses in West Africa. Dr. George Agyekum Donkor, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBID, and Solomon Quaynor, African Development Bank (AfDB) vice-president for Private Sector, Infrastructure, and Industrialisation, formalized the agreement during a signing ceremony at the African Development Bank’s Abidjan headquarters. Dr. Donkor said, “This credit facility illustrates BID’s continued efforts to mobilize adequate resources to honour its commitment to…

17 Aug

Ghana’s Fiscal Deficit To GDP Of 9% In 2022 Highest In ECOWAS – AfDB

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Ghana’s fiscal deficit to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 9.0% was the highest in West Africa in 2022, the African Development Bank West African Economic Outlook 2023 Report has revealed. According to the report, the fiscal deficit to GDP fell by 0.2% from 9.2% in 2021. The country’s fiscal deficit, however, averaged 5.8% of GDP between 2014 and 2020. This placed it as the second highest in the ECOWAS region. According to the report, the fiscal deficit increased in all ECOWAS countries in 2021 except Guinea and Liberia where it declined by 0.4 and 2.1 percentage points, respectively. “The increase…

13 Jul

Fitch Affirms African Development Bank At ‘AAA’ With Stable Outlook

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Fitch Ratings has affirmed African Development Bank (AfDB)’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘AAA’ with a Stable Outlook. According to the rating agency, AfDB’s ‘AAA’ rating is driven by the extraordinary support the bank receives from its non-regional shareholders, which we assess at ‘aaa’. “The shareholders’ ‘strong’ propensity to support the bank translates into a zero-notch adjustment to our assessment of the capacity to support (aaa). The rating is also supported by the bank’s Standalone Credit Profile (SCP), reflecting the lower of its assessments of ‘aa’ for solvency and ‘aaa’ for liquidity”, it explained. Fitch placed the US’s ‘AAA’…

22 Jun

AfDB Approves $23.04m For Modern Floating Dock Facility In Takoradi

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The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a $23.04 million loan to Prime Meridian Docks AssetCo Ltd (PMD), a special purpose entity to co-finance the construction of a modern floating dock ship repair facility in Ghana’s western Takoradi port. The loan will support the company to design, build, operate and maintain a world-class ship repair and maintenance facility in the Gulf of Guinea under a 25-year concession granted to the company by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority. The project, estimated to cost $137 million, will involve constructing a 200-meter jetty, dredging 300,000 cubic meters of…

10 May

AfDB Officials In Ghana To Discuss Means With Govt To Enhance Cooperation For Dev’t

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Officials of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group have arrived in Ghana on Monday, May 8. The delegation was led by the Vice President of AfDB, responsible for the Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery Complex, Mrs Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade. Their presence in the country forms part of their mission to discuss with the government of Ghana means to enhance the AfDB’s cooperation and partnership with the government for national development. The team was received at the Jubilee House by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia. Dr Bawumia in a tweet said “Today, I received at the Jubilee House a delegation from the African…

25 Apr

Efficient Regulation Will Cushion Utilities Against Shocks – AfDB

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Effective regulations can help utilities to successfully navigate the current economic turbulence and energy transition process, says Wale Shonibare, Director for Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulation at the African Development Bank (AfDB). The utilities sector, particularly the power industry, is saddled with numerous challenges including inefficient revenue collection or revenue losses and rising energy sector debt. For instance, as at the end of January 2023, Independent Power Producers were owed US$1.3billion due to the Electricity Company of Ghana’s inability to effectively collect revenues from electricity consumers and pay for the power it buys from producers. However, to effectively overcome…

10 Mar

Africa’s Average GDP Growth To Stabilise In 2023-2024 – Afdb Report

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African economies remain resilient with a stable outlook in 2023-2024 despite the tightening global financial conditions, the African Development Bank has projected in a new report. The report, Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook (MEO) 2023, estimates Africa’s average GDP to stabilise at 4 percent in the next two years, up from 3.8 percent in 2022. Presenting the report on 17th February on the sidelines of the 36th African Union Assembly in Addis Ababa, African Development Bank Chief Economist and Vice President Kevin Urama said that the continent could benefit from high demand for its commodities as countries seek alternatives for…

30 Jan

Analysis: Ghana’s GDP Growth For 2022 Lags Behind Other African Countries – AfDB

wontumionlineBusinessAFDB, Ghana's GDP

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has released its latest economic report, which shows that Ghana’s GDP growth for 2022 was 3.6%, 1.8 percentage points below what was secured in 2021 (5.4%). While this is still positive growth, it is lower than the average for other African countries. According to the report, several countries on the continent saw GDP growth rates above 5%, with some even surpassing 7%. This highlights a growing divide between the economic performance of different nations in Africa. 2022’s top African growth performers were Seychelles (8.3%), Rwanda (6.9%) and Kenya (5.5%). Before AfDB’s report, the International Monetary…