“Africa shouldn’t beg for vaccines, but rather produce them.” ~Akinwumi Adesina

Abidjan – President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina, Wednesday, at the AfDB’s 2021 Annual Meetings opening ceremony, said the Bank will support Africa’s efforts to produce COVID-19 vaccines as part of the African Union’s overall vaccine development plan, and commit US $3 billion to the advancement of Africa’s pharmaceutical industry. Africa currently produces less than 1% of its vaccines

Speaking at the virtual event with ‘Building Reslient Economies in post-Covid19 Africa’ as its theme, speakers included President Nana #AkuffoAddo of #Ghana and host of the 2021 Meetings; #KenOforiAtta, the Ghanaian Minister of Finance and Economic Planning; Chair of the #AfricanUnion Commission, Moussa Fakhi Mahamet, #WTO Director General, #NgoziOkonjoIweala; and #IMF Chairwoman and Managing Director #KristalinaGeorgieva, the first IMF leader to speak at the Annual Meetings of Africa’s premier financial institution.

According to President Akuffo-Addo, “As we advance, we must remedy a situation where the World Bank has significantly larger operations in Africa than our own African Development Bank … The historic one hundred and fifteen billion dollars ($115 billion) capital injection from AfDB shareholders was timely. However, the Bank must target even more capital to meet our aspirations. Creating stability and resilience does not happen overnight, but it will happen gradually as we cultivate our awareness and self-sufficiency. Turning inward is an integral part of this shift.”

Georgieva, in her remarks said, Africa must be poised for significant economic growth in a post-COVID world.

“The warning signs are clear: a two-track pandemic is leading to a two-track recovery. Africa is already falling behind in terms of growth prospects. This year, we project the global economy to grow by 6 percent, but only half that—3.2 percent[1]—in Africa. This ought to change, for the sake of Africa and for the benefit of the world. And it requires international cooperation on multiple fronts.”

The annual meetings end on Friday.

#finance #covid19 #development #investment #leadership #change

culled from @Victor Oladokun