“ AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE ”
In a conversation with Diplomatist , President Akinwumi Adesina , President of the African Development Bank , highlights the significance of the High 5s , his comparative analysis of the financial situation in the African countries and how the bank is seeking inspiration from Asian countries in energy , industry and agricultural transformation policies .
What are the ‘ High 5s ’ of the African Development Bank ?
First , I am delighted to contribute to this Special Edition of the Diplomatist Magazine , on the auspicious occasion of the COMESA Summit . This region is very important to the African Development Bank and is the largest of the eight Regional Economic Communities , bringing together 19 Member States .
The African Development Bank concentrates on raising , leveraging and crowding in financial resources according to the High 5s strategy : Light up and Power Africa ; Feed Africa ; Industrialise Africa ; Integrate Africa ; and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa . I was interested to see a recent independent analysis by the United Nations Development Programme which showed that the High 5s cover 90 percent of the Sustainable Development Goals and 90 percent of the African Union ’ s Agenda 2063 . This means that the High 5s are accelerators of Africa ' s economic development .
You can ’ t do anything in the dark . Very little business , education , healthcare or entertainment can be done without some form of power . 645 million people do not have
access to electricity . This is not acceptable . The Bank has committed to invest about $ 12 billion between 2016 and 2020 and we expect to leverage another $ 45-50 billion in co-financing for energy projects in Africa during the same period . And our African sun must do more than just nourish crops ; it must heat or cool our homes and help to transport our goods . We must light up and power Africa now .
With a shift in demographic trends – population growth and rapid urbanisation – the food and agribusiness industry in Africa is projected to grow to $ 1 trillion by 2030 , with new and impatient African urban markets demanding a generous variety of high-quality food products . The African continent has plenty of land for extra production , with over 65 percent of all the uncultivated arable land left in the world . Africa will , therefore , be able to feed its own 2 billion people , as well as the other 7 billion on this planet .
And it will be keeping the added value in growing and processing its food , for we cannot keep paying $ 35 billion a year , expected to further rise to $ 110 billion a year by 2025 , for the crippling luxury of importing food that we should be growing , processing , and consuming ourselves .
10 • COMESA • 2018