The Nation Newspaper

Tag: AfDB

  • Arunma Oteh gets world bank appointment

    Arunma Oteh gets world bank appointment


    Arunma Oteh, former Director-General, Security Exchange Commission (SEC) has been appointed Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank. The appointment was on Friday confirmed in a press statement issued by Jim Yong Kim, World Bank President of the World Bank. The statement reads: "I am pleased to announce the appointment of Arunma Oteh as VP and Treasurer of the World Bank. Arunma, a Nigerian national, was most recently the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria. Appointed to a five-year term by the President of Nigeria in 2010, she led the transformation of the country’s capital markets industry into a major global presence. She was a member of the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Chairperson of the Africa Middle East Regional Committee of IOSCO. “Prior to joining the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria, Arunma was Group Vice President, Corporate Services, at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). In this role, she oversaw a number of departments, including human resources, information and communications technology, and institutional procurement. From 2001 to 2006 she held the role of AfDB Group Treasurer, where she led AfDB’s fundraising and capital market activities across the world. Earlier roles at the AfDB, which she joined in 1992, included trading room management, investment portfolio coverage, and public sector lending. She also held other positions in capital markets and lending during the course of her career at the AfDB. Arunma began her career in 1985 at Centre Point, where she executed debt and equity offerings in the Nigerian capital markets. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Nigeria and her Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University. As VP and Treasurer, Arunma will manage and lead a large and diverse team responsible for managing more than $150 billion in assets. Her top priorities will be to:

    • maintain the World Bank’s global reputation as a prudent and innovative borrower, investor and risk manager;
    • ) manage an extensive client advisory, transaction and asset management business for the Bank;
    • ) engage, in her capacity as one of the World Bank’s key representatives, with outside stakeholders including global private sector financial institutions, the financial media and the sovereign debt and reserve managers in client countries, as well as ratings agencies; and,
    • ) collaborate extensively with the Finance Partners throughout the WBG, including with IFC and MIGA, expanding shared approaches, in particular around innovative financing for development and for key new projects.
    Ms. Oteh was selected to this position through an international competitive search. Her appointment is effective as from September 28, 2015.

  • AfDB harps on tax transparency, resource mobilisation

    There is a link between global tax transparency and domestic resource mobilisation, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has said.

       It said the issue was discussed at the sidelines of the Financing for Development conference,  jointly organised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and UN-DESA, which was attended by the outgoing President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, eminent ministers and officials from OECD member countries, and observer organisations.

    The meeting sought to explore ways of improving tax transparency, an important driver of domestic resource mobilisation. The panelists at the event stressed the need for governments to give their tax administrators the resources they need to access information flow.

    This would enable them to carry out audits of cross-border transactions. Automatic Exchange of Tax Information across countries was perceived as key in clamping down on tax evasion. There are reportedly more than 3000 tax information exchange agreements in place. These serve as tools for governments to track transfers between financial accounts across the world.

    The meeting heard that the new tax transparency standard, launched in 2014 to aid Automatic Exchange of Information, will allow authorities to access information required to track funds held overseas that were previously unknown. This can boost the tax revenues needed to invest in infrastructure and human capital that is necessary to foster sustainable development.

  • Nigeria loses $83.3b to illicit cash outflow, says AfDB

    Nigeria loses $83.3b to illicit cash outflow, says AfDB

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) yesterday said Nigeria has lost about $83.3 billion to illicit financial outflow.

    Its Country Director, Dr. Ousmane Dore who spoke at the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD’s) Multi-Stakeholders meeting on Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) out of Nigeria, in Abuja, said the loss accounted for 5.6 per cent of total goods traded without proper invoicing in the last 51 years starting from 1960 to 2011.

    The AfDB chief added that the recent Global Financial Integrity Report also ranked Nigeria seventh among top 10 highest illicit capital outflows in the developing world and first in Africa.

    According to him, Nigeria in many decades experienced a very serious problem with trade misinvoicing, in the form of over-invoicing of imports and under-invoicing of exports for the purpose of shifting money out of the country.

    He said: “Between 1960 and 2011, Nigeria experienced cumulative illicit financial out flows totalling $83.3 billion or 5.6 per cent of a total goods trade through trade through mis-invoicing only.

    “Export under-invoicing takes the larger share of $44 billion while the balance of 39.3billion was due to import overinvoicing.

    “In the literature, exchange controls has been identified as a basic driver of trade and misinvoicing in developing countroes, especially Nigeria, because they tend to create black markets in foreign exchange where foreign currenciess can be bought and sold at a preminum over official rates.

    “For many in Africa, this has been a reality for decades. Depots, corrupt government officials and corrupt heads of state move billions of dollars from government coffers into lucrative, opaque bank.

    “Others are illegal activities such as bribery, drug trafficking and similar illegal activities.”

    Earlier, CDD Director, Idayat Hassan said the nation has sufficient resources to meet its developmental needs.

    She said  the illicit funds could be used to provide about 870,000 school, 400,000 hospitals among others.

    However, she attributed widespread illegal financial flows to governance challenges in the sense of weak institutions and inadequate regulatory environment, lack of transparency and accountability.

    According to her, the situation, for many years has strained capacities of the governments in various ways and discourages wealth creation to implement development policies.

    She said if the nation had judiciously used its resources, Nigeria would have achieved the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as the country prepares to transit to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    “What has become obvious is that we have to redirect our efforts to fighting IFFS in Nigeria….for every $1 of foreign borrowing, on the average, more than $0.50 leaves the borrower country in the same year,” she added.

  • Nigeria lost $83.3b to illicit cash outflow – AfDB

    Nigeria has lost about $83.3 billion to illicit cash outflow, the Country Director, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Ousmane Dore, said Tuesday.

    Dore spoke at the Centre for Democracy and Development’s Multi-Stakeholders meeting on Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) out of Nigeria. The event was organised in Abuja.

    ‎He said the loss accounted for 5.6 per cent of total goods traded without proper invoicing in the last 51 years – between 1960 and 2011.

    The AfDB country director added that the recent Global Financial Integrity report also ranked Nigeria seventh in the top 10 nations with the highest illicit capital outflows in the developing world and first in Africa.

    According to him, Nigeria in many decades experienced a very serious problem of trade mis-invoicing, in the form of over-invoicing of imports and under-invoicing of exports for the purpose of shifting money out of the country.

    “Between 1960 to 2011 Nigeria experienced cumulative illicit financial out flows totalling $83.3 billion or 5.6 per cent of a total goods trade through trade through mis-invoicing only.

    “Export under-invoicing takes the larger share of $44 billion, while the balance of $39.3b was due to import over-invoicing,” the AfDB chief stated.

    Earlier, CDD Director, Idayat Hassan, said the nation has sufficient resources to meet its developmental needs.

    She said ‎the illicit funds could be used to build about 870, 000 school and 400, 000 hospitals, among others.

  • AfDB okays new strategy

    The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the institution’s Knowledge Management Strategy (KMS) for 2015 to 2020.

    The KMS vision is for the AfDB to become the premier knowledge institution in Africa in the areas of its mandate. This is a long-term goal and an aspiration, where the journey is as important as the destination.

    The board said knowledge and innovation have emerged as crucial features of development strategies in many parts of the world. With its ability to combine knowledge with funding, the bank is uniquely positioned to lead the development of innovative solutions for the complex challenges facing Africa. To play this role, the Bank is increasingly complementing its financing with knowledge products and services, including analytical, advisory and policy work.

    It said the strategic objective of the KMS is to raise its development effectiveness through providing and exchanging innovative knowledge solutions for Africa’s transformation with African countries. Effectiveness, quality and impact will require focus on critical knowledge areas.

    The priorities are aligned with those of the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy (TYS) for 2013-2022: infrastructure development, private sector development, regional economic integration, skills and technology, governance and accountability as well as the areas of special emphasis – gender, fragile states, and agriculture and food security.

    The KMS has two pillars reflecting the role of knowledge in enhancing the effectiveness of Bank operations to address Africa’s pressing development needs; and strengthening the quality of the institution’s policy dialogue, advisory services, and involvement in the development debate.

    The implementation of the KMS, the board explained, will build on the Bank’s established knowledge assets, such as its flagship publications, policy dialogues, capacity-building programs and knowledge management and learning ICT platform.

    The KMS is expected to strengthen existing strategic partnerships and establish new ones. It will be important for the Bank to choose its knowledge management activities strategically, based on demand, consensus among key actors, and targeted interventions, with measurable outcomes.

  • ‘Nigeria’s external debt hits $9.4b’

    ‘Nigeria’s external debt hits $9.4b’

    Nigeria’s external debt stock profile stood at $9.4 billion on March 31, this year, the Debt Management Office (DMO), information posted on DMO said yesterday.

    The figure showed a decrease of about $300 million  from the $9.7 billion that the country owed at December 31 last year.

    According to information on DPR website, the highest debt is owed the World Bank Group. International Development Association  $5.6billion and International Fund for Agricultural Development, $89.4million

    It further stated that Nigeria owes African Development Bank (AfDB) $200 million and the African Development Fund (ADF), $513.7 million. The ADF debt was incurred through the AfDB Group.

    Nigeria also owes Arab Bank Economic Development for Africa $4.4 million, while its debts to European Development Fund and Islamic Development Bank are $75.1 million and $19.6 million respectively.

    The record also showed that the country’s indebtedness through bilateral agreement to Exim Bank of China and French Development Agency are $1.2 billion and $140.2 million respectively.

    It further stated that Nigeria’s external debt stock through government’s issuance of Eurobond stood is $1.5 billion.

  • AfDB, Nigeria to partner on job creation

    AfDB, Nigeria to partner on job creation

    The President, African Development Bank (AfDB) and former    Agriculture and  Rural  Development  Minister Dr.   Akinwumi Adesina has said  he  would  work with Nigeria and the  rest of the  continent to build  infrastructure, increase productivity and create  jobs to build resilience in the  economies.

    Speaking in Lagos at the weekend, during a send off party held by the Nigeria Agriculture Business Group (NABG), Adesina said urgent action was needed to restore productivity and economic growth to ensure sustained improvements to living standards.

    He underlined his resolve to make power, food and agriculture his major priorities, pointing out that Africa would become a global power house in food and agriculture. He saidAfrica would be green economy in his tenure.

    Infrastructure, he noted, drives economic growth by increasing measured economic activity and   generating employment.

    Although business conditions have been challenging, he   maintained that    considerable long-term economic development potential  exist, adding  that  what  African  governments needed  to do,  was   planning   for future growth by understanding potential growth opportunities and  undertaking  economic modeling to  explore  significant opportunities to grow and strengthen their  economies.

    He said pursuing the right economic policies and programmes would lay the foundation and steer the economy on a path to higher growth.

    Going forward, he  said  the  nation has benefitted from  the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA ), adding  that countries  like Rwanda  are trying  to  model  their  agricultural  programmes  after  the  ATA.

    Adesina said the Nigerian government introduced the electronic (e-wallet) system of allocating Government-subvented seeds and fertilisers directly to farmers, and losening the stranglehold of corrupt middlemen on farmers, adding  that  some  countries  in Africa  want to  emulate Nigeria.

    He  said   the AFDB has been very keen in pushing for more private  sector involvement, adding  that he  is ready  to work   with NABG  to actualise  the nation’s  dream of food  sufficiency.

    He said his election as AfDB President should be seen as a call to serve and responsibility to lead Africa. He   thanked the former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians for their tremendous support towards his election.

    NABG Coordinator,  Emmanuel Ijewere, expressed optimism that Adesina will reposition the continental bank to an enviable level.

    According to him, the group arose out of the need on the part of investors in the agricultural sector to have a strong platform for articulating a purpose-driven vision for the sector, as well as partner with Government to make farming and allied industry, more attractive, secure and profitable, with a view to achieving the set goals in the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).

    He  said the group has seen demonstrable purposefulness in the current government’s leadership in the agricultural sector, and is willing to work with it to promote the interest of Nigerians.

    He praised Adesina  for laying the  foundation for the nation’s  prosperity through  ATA.

    Members of  NABG,who  witnessed  the event,included, the Managing Director, Origin Group, Samuel Johnson Samuel and the Nigerian Agribusiness Group.

    He said the programme  has  demonstrated its immense support for agric, adding that measures are underway to revitalise the nation’s economy  and  that  his   work is already paying off.

    He stressed that the agriculture   industry remains essential if any country wants to have a highly productive services sector .

     

  • AfDB: Buhari’s phone calls influenced poll outcome – Adesina

    AfDB: Buhari’s phone calls influenced poll outcome – Adesina

    The newly elected President of the Africa Development Bank, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, on Monday disclosed the pivotal role played by President Muhammadu Buhari in his emergence as the bank’s new helmsman.

    Adesina said Buhari made vital phone calls to global leaders in respect of the position, saying the outcome of the election would have been different if not for the President’s intervention.

    The immediate past Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development spoke when he visited Governor Ibikunle Amosun at the Ogun State Governor’s office in Oke – Mosan, Abeokuta.

    He also revealed that other former Nigerian leaders including Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Abdul Salaam Abubakar, among others, stood behind him.

    Adesina said the dreams and vision of African countries are one and pledged to use his office as President of the AfDB to fight poverty, develop infrastructure and also revive rural economies.

    He said: “I want to use this opportunity to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari on his election and his inauguration. I also want to thank him tremendously for the support he gave me during the race for the AfDB presidency.

    “Without that support and the calls he personally made to critical global leaders in the last days of the election, I don’t think we might have seen the result we saw today.”

    “I want to really thank the President tremendously for his support and for his commitment and for helping to make sure we got that victory.”

    “Obviously I couldn’t have also been here without former President Goodluck Jonathan who nominated me as minister. I feel tremendously humbled with that nomination and he supported me tremendously by putting a lot of weight behind me.”

     

     

  • Adesina pledges stronger AfDB

    Adesina pledges stronger AfDB

    The President of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said he will work with shareholders to build a new bank with inclusive growth.

    AfDB shareholders are from African and non-African countries.

    Adesina said together we will “build a stronger and more prosperous Africa, with smart infrastructure, energy for all, a strong private sector, new economic opportunities that will deliver quality jobs and hope for millions of youths and women, revival of Africa’s rural economies to lift many out of poverty, and regional integration for shared prosperity”.

    From rural areas to burgeoning cities, the AfDB helmsman said he has seen vast opportunities for a greater and more inclusive Africa and hopes to build on the work of his predecessor.

    Adesina thanked “former President Goodluck Jonathan for nominating him, his confidence, and his steadfast, enthusiastic support; President Muhammadu Buhari for his strong endorsement and rallying support for us and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for her vital role and tremendous effort in delivering this successful outcome”.

    He said: “Dr. Okonjo-Iweala worked passionately for our campaign, and our success would have been impossible without her tireless work shepherding support among many of the esteemed finance ministers and governors at the AfDB.

    “In addition, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Heads of State Generals Yakubu Gowon and Abdulsalami Abubakar,  former Vice-Presidents Atiku Abubakar  and Namadi Sambo worked determinedly to build support for my candidacy.”

  • BREAKING NEWS: Adesina elected as AfDB president

    BREAKING NEWS: Adesina elected as AfDB president

    Nigeria’s outgoing Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has been elected President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

    He succeeds outgoing Donald Kabureka as the bank’s helmsman.

    Details later…