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Tag: AfDB

  • AfDB’s loan to Nigeria to cross $8b mark

    AfDB’s loan to Nigeria to cross $8b mark

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) plans to increase its loans to Nigeria by more than $2 billion next year thereby raising the total loans to the country above $8 billion mark, its President Akinwumi Adesina said.

    The investment will go to  energy, infrastructure and agriculture.

    “The total portfolio we have in Nigeria is $6 billion. We expect that by the year 2019, we will grow that into a little bit over $8 billion,” Adesina told Bloomberg during the opening of AfDB’s headquarters in Abuja.

    The Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based lender will pump more than $800 million into Nigeria this year, most of which will fund investments in power. Among them is a $250 million support to revamp power-transmission lines and electricity sub-stations as well as fund a $200 million solar-power project in Jigawa state in the north, Adesina said.

    The $400 million balance from a $1 billion loan for budget support will be disbursed directly to industries identified by the government after projects have been vetted by the bank, he said.

    Nigerian economy is recovering from its worst economic slump in 25 years. It will also receive budget support and public financial management assistance from the lender, he said.

    The AfDB forecasts the economy will grow by 2.1 per cent this year as the output of and the price of oil, its main export, recover. The country depends on crude exports for two-thirds of government revenue and most of its foreign income. Brent crude, which compares with Nigeria’s export grades, has gained 26 percent in the past year, helping the recovery. It traded at $69.87 a barrel as of 5:03 p.m. in London.

    Nigeria remains vulnerable to oil price shocks because of its dependence on the commodity. As prices continue to rally, the government of Africa’s biggest economy needs to invest more in infrastructure and boost funding to non-oil industries, which account for about 90 per cent of gross domestic product, Adesina said.

  • Nigeria formally thanks AfDB for $1bn budget support

    Nigeria formally thanks AfDB for $1bn budget support

    Nigeria has formally thanked the African Development Bank ( AfDB ) for supporting the country with $1 billion during the 2015-2016 economic recession.

    President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his appreciation at the commissioning of the AfDB Nigeria Country Complex in Abuja on Thursday.

    Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the event, President Buhari thanked the president and Board for their support to Nigeria at a very difficult time during the 2015 and 2016 economic recession.”

    The President said: “When we requested support from the bank, the response was swift. The bank approved a budget support loan of $1 billion in November 2016.”

    Read Also: Nigeria’s economy to grow at 2.1% – AfDB

    “The first $600 million has been fully disbursed and utilized and in my discussions with the president of the bank, we will be getting the remainder in form of sector loans. So we are looking forward to the remaining $400 million.”

    The approval by the AfDB, he said sent a much needed positive signal to the market at a critical time for Nigeria and for this “we would always remain grateful to the African Development Bank.”

    President Buhari noted that AfDB has evolved into one of the most efficient vehicle for economic development and integration for the African continent and has faithfully played its role as a trusted adviser and honest broker on the continent.

     

     

  • AfDB predicts growth for Nigeria

    AfDB predicts growth for Nigeria

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) has predicted that Nigeria’s economic outlook in 2018 and will be positive.

    The bank in its 2018 African Economic Outlook projected Nigeria’s economic growth  at 2.1 per cent  in 2018 and 2.5 per cent in 2019.

    According to the bank, “this outlook is anchored on higher oil prices and production, as well as stronger agricultural performance.”

    Notwithstanding this positive outlook for the country, the AfDB in its report said Nigeria still faces significant challenges, including foreign exchange shortages, disruptions in fuel supply, power shortages, and insecurity in some parts of the country.

    In addition, “revenue mobilization efforts are insufficient; at 5%, value added tax rates are among the lowest in the world, and revenue administration is inefficient. Poverty is unacceptably high; nearly 80% of Nigeria’s 190 million people live on less than $2 a day” the report said

    Looking into the future, the AfDB economic prediction on Nigeria noted that “oil prices rebounded to an average of $52 per barrel (Brent crude) in 2017 and are projected to reach $54 in 2018, up from $43 per barrel in 2016.”

     

  • Buhari to inaugurate AfDB’s complex today

    PresidentMuhammadu Buhari will today inaugurate the new office complex of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abuja.

    This development is believed to be a consolidation in the country’s position as the bank’s largest shareholder, with a portfolio of $6 billion and country operations accounting for 13 percent of the bank’s total portfolio.

    The complex, situated in the Central Business District (CBD) of the federal capital city, is the first permanent structure to be designed and constructed in any regional member country of the AfDB.

    The development of the office complex came on the heels of the Board of Directors’ approval of the “Rent or Acquire Premises for Field Offices” policy; and following the recommendation to construct a new office in Nigeria, construction started in January 2016. The 220-staff capacity four-storey building will become a model for replication in other countries.

    “The bank has positioned itself as the preferred lending partner in Nigeria as it continues to support Nigeria’s long-term aspiration to be among the top 20 economies in the world by the year 2020,” the Senior Director, Nigeria Country Department of the AfDB, Ebrima Faal said.

    AfDB President, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, said the institution remains grateful to the Federal Government for providing land the building and the continuous show of solidarity to the bank. The construction of the structure, he further said, is a reaffirmation of the African Development AfDBank’s commitment to support the country to achieve its development reforms.

    “The bank is highly committed to working with the private and public sectors to implement the High fives agenda and meet the Sustainable Development Goals’ targets in Nigeria and across the continent,” Adesina said.

    The AfDB Group was established on September 10, 1964 and began operations in Nigeria in 1971.

     

  • Adeosun urges AfDB to help mobilise resources

    Adeosun urges AfDB to help mobilise resources

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has called for strong and well capitalized African Development Bank (AfDB) capable of fulfilling its commitments to member-countries.

    A statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister, Mr. Oluyinka Akintunde, said Adeosun made this call at the Regional Consultative meeting between the AfDB President, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina and the Bank’s Governors and Ministers of Finance from West Africa and Central Africa held recently in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

    The meeting was the first consultation of its kind since the creation of the Bank in 1963.

    The statement said: “The Nigerian minister stated that a solid AfDB was required to assist African countries to mobilise their internal resources.”

    “At the height of the crisis that shook our economy due to the fall in oil prices, the AfDB provided us with substantial budget support, while other partners were very reluctant.”

    On his part, Adesina told the Bank Governors that the annual meeting had hitherto been the only setting for group dialogue between the Governors and the management of the Bank.

    “We intend for this type of consultation to be an annual event that provides another opportunity to listen to you, to seek your advice and discuss important developments and matters important to the work of the Bank and Africa’s development,” he stated.

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  • Nigeria’s economy to grow at 2.1% – AfDB

    Nigeria’s economy to grow at 2.1% – AfDB

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) has predicted a positive outlook for Nigeria’s economic in 2018.

    The bank in its 2018 African Economic Outlook projected that Nigeria’s economy would grow at 2.1 per cent in 2018 and 2.5 per cent in 2019.

    According to AfDB, this outlook is anchored on higher oil prices and production, as well as stronger agricultural performance.

    Notwithstanding this positive outlook for the country, the AfDB said Nigeria still faces significant challenges, including foreign exchange shortages, disruptions in fuel supply, power shortages, and insecurity in some parts of the country.

    “In addition, revenue mobilization efforts are insufficient; at 5 per cent, value added tax rates are among the lowest in the world, and revenue administration is inefficient. Poverty is unacceptably high; nearly 80 per cent of Nigeria’s 190 million people live on less than $2 a day,” the bank said in its report.

    Looking into the future, the AfDB economic prediction on Nigeria noted that “oil prices rebounded to an average of $52 per barrel (Brent crude) in 2017 and are projected to reach $54 in 2018, up from $43 per barrel in 2016.”

    “Oil production also increased from 1.45 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2017 to 2.03 million in the third quarter of 2017 following de-escalation of hostilities in the Niger Delta region and is expected to remain at the same level in 2018 and 2019, in tandem with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production restrictions,” AfDB added.

     

     

  • AfDB to focus more on power sector in 2018

    AfDB to focus more on power sector in 2018

    The Country Director, African Development Bank (AfDB), Mr Ebrima Faal,  said  the bank would focus mostly on power sector in 2018.

    Faal said this during an interaction with newsmen at the newly-built Nigeria Country Department Office on Tuesday in Abuja.

    He said the new office to be commissioned on January 18, was the first structure to be designed and constructed from scratch.

    “The 2018 programme of the bank is focusing mostly on power sector, we have several solar projects that we are handling together with the world Bank and other partners.

    ”We are working together in some of these projects in Jigawa, Bauchi and Sokoto States among others.

    “We also anticipate supporting the private sector in developing two large fertiliser plants for both internal and external use.

    “There is a world class clinic of medical facilities called Santaclara Clinic located in Lagos, which we hope to finish.

    ”We are also working to provide lines of credit on cassava processing and agribusiness; those are the projects the bank will be supporting this year,” Faal said.

    The Country Director said  the Bank was planning to install solar panels once the commissioning ceremony of its new building was completed on Thursday.

    He said the essence was to supplement the generation of more power that would allow the Bank to have additional sources to support both the building and the premises.

    “We are in the process of installing solar thermal technology as additional source of cooling and lighting the new building and premises.

    “We have already installed environmentally friendly chargers to charge electric cars for those that are using these type of cars.

    “Last year was my first year, so when I came to Nigeria, we had already invested 1.6 billion dollars between the project support in the Northeast and some water projects,”he added.

    He said the Bank was working closely with Nigeria and ECOWAS to achieve results.

    According to him, the Bank maintains a robust and unique partnership with the Federal Government, which has been instrumentally important in the growth of the institution as a shareholder.

    He said Nigeria was the largest shareholder with portfolio of over 5.5 billion dollars as at December 31, 2017, accounting for 13 per cent of the bank’s total portfolio.

    Faal said in November 2009, the Bank’s Board of Directors approved the project to acquire premises for Field Offices, adding that works commenced in November 2011.

    He said the detailed designs and tender documents were then finalised in August 2013.

  • AfDB board approves third sovereign lending instrument

    The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved the bank’s third sovereign lending instrument called the Results-Based Financing (RBF) policy.

    The RBF will be the bank’s third financing instrument to complement the two existing instruments, namely investment lending and programme-based operations (PBOs). The RBF is an additional, innovative, financing instrument that supports government-owned programmes and links disbursements directly to the achievement of programme results.

    The approval of the RBF policy comes at a critical juncture where countries are increasingly harnessing resources for structural transformation and seeking financing and expertise from development partners, in flexible ways, to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their development programmes.

    The policy will, therefore, enhance the bank’s responsiveness to such growing demands from its clients. It will also sharpen the bank’s results focus and help scale up financing in the high five priority areas recently adopted by the institution.

    In so doing, the bank will increase accountability and incentives for delivering and sustaining results, while promoting institutional development and enhancing development effectiveness concurrently.

    The bank will embark on the development of a solid pipeline of RBF operations, carefully selecting priority government programmes that will deliver ambitious results in regional member countries. In the coming year, the Bank will enhance dialogue with countries in order to scale up RBF financing.

    Also, the African Development Bank-managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) has approved $985,000 to Parque Eólico da Namaacha S.A SPV, to support project preparation activities for a utility-scale wind farm project in Mozambique.

    The project will provide reliable and clean power to the grid-connected population and industries in Maputo Province add 60 Mega Watt peak power to the grid and expand transmission capacities. Further, SEFA aims at rendering the project a replicable wind farm reference for the Southern Africa Region.

    The intervention will trigger bankability and financial close of what will likely be the first utility-scale wind farm in Mozambique, contributing to reducing the significant peak-load gaps exhibited by the grid in Southern Maputo Province.

  • AfDB, GEF, others in $55m off-grid energy investment

    A consortium comprising the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Nordic Development Fund (NDF); multilateral donor trust fund, Global Environment Facility (GEF); and investors, Calvert Impact Capital (CIC), are partnering to invest $55 million into off-grid energy.

    Others in the partnership are the joint development and climate finance institution of the five Nordic countries  of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

    Last December, the AfDB’s board approved a $30 million investment in the Facility for Energy Inclusion Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI OGEF). This follows the approval of additional investments of $10 million from CIC, $8.5 million from the GEF and €6 million from the NDF. In addition, the NDF will provide a €0.5-million grant for technical assistance to support deal structuring and capacity development.

  • AfDB invests in green energy

    AfDB invests in green energy

    The African Development Bank has achieved a 100 per cent investment in renewable energy in 2017, a major landmark in its commitment to clean energy and efficiency.

    Power generation projects with a cumulative 1,400 megawatts exclusively from renewables were approved during the year, with plans to increase support for renewable energy projects in 2018 under the New Deal on Energy for Africa.

    AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina said: “We are clearly leading on renewable energy. We will help Africa unlock its full energy potential, while developing a balanced energy mix to support industrialisation. Our commitment is to ensure 100 per cent climate screening for all Bank financed projects.’’

    The share of renewable energy projects as a portion of the Bank’s portfolio of power generation investments increased from 14 per cent in 2007 to 2011, to 64 per cent in 2012 to 2016.

    The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) whose goal is to deliver 300 Gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy in 2030 and 10 GW by 2020, is now based within the Bank, as requested by African Heads of State and Government. The G7 has promised to commit US$10 billion to support the initiative, which came out of COP21 and subsequently approved by the African Union.

    On November 8, 2017, the African Bank Group approved its Second Climate Change Action Plan, 2016-2020 (CCAP2) as a clear message of its commitment to helping African countries mobilise resources to support the implementation of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions of Regional Member Countries, in ways that will not hinder development.