The Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) have in a final communiqué signifying the end of the 53rd Annual Meetings of the Bank unanimously voted Equatorial Guinea as the next host of the meetings in 2019.

The new President of the Board of Governors, Lucas Abaga Nchama, the Governor for Equatorial Guinea, promised that the 2019 Annual Meetings in Malabo, the country’s capital, would be just as fruitful.

This was contained in a communiqué copied to the Ghana News Agency.

It commended the Directors, Management and staff for working hard to record approvals of US $8.7 billion and over $7 billion of disbursements, results never achieved since its creation in 1964.

It said the Board of Governors have authorized the opening of consultations in order to increase the Bank’s capital.

“We, as Governors, here in Busan, note the increase in disbursements in 2017, the highest in the Bank’s history. In this regard, we commend the Bank’s achievements and encourage it to do more in terms of efficiency and impact on development,”

Thanks to its good performance, the Bank was able to increase its net revenue. Its prudent management of financial and operational risks allowed it to allocate a volume to reserves unprecedented in its history. It also helped the Bank to maintain its AAA rating with the major global rating agencies.

The Bank’s 80 Governors, who represent the 80 member countries of the African Development Bank Group, both regional and non-regional, also underscored the need for a strong and financially viable African Development Bank – one that is efficient, effective, responsible and results-oriented.

They also authorized the Governors’ Consultative Committee to open discussions on the general capital increase, the purpose of which was to allow the Bank to respond to the financing needs of its regional member countries and achieve its development objectives.

For the Governors, this capital increase should be preceded by the presentation of “a well-targeted strategic report on the role of the Bank Group in the context of the global development architecture and an evaluation of reforms to enhance the Bank’s capacity to achieve its objectives.”

External financing and internal resources

The debates in the 53rd Annual Meetings also highlighted the need to associate the search for external financing with mobilization of internal resources, notably through more effective management of public finances and a relentless campaign to combat illicit financial flows out of the African continent

The Governors welcomed, in this regard, “the efforts deployed by the Bank to encourage reforms of financial regulation so as to attract institutional investments and mobilize global financing in favour of Africa through the Africa Investment Forum to be held November 7 to 9, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Governors also urged “the Bank to continue, with other development partners, in the pursuit of new ideas to develop, finance and accelerate Africa’s economic transformation.”

“These Annual Meetings have been an enormous collective success. Thanks to everyone, and especially our Korean hosts, we have been able to work in ideal conditions to arrive at this excellent conclusion,” Akinwumi Adesina said in the closing ceremony.

The 53rd Annual Meetings officially opened on May 23, in the presence of the Rwandan Prime Minister, Edouard Ngirente, whose country holds the Presidency of the African Union, his Moroccan counterpart Saadine Othmani and the Deputy Mayor of Busan, Jae Min Park. The meetings provided a forum for discussion on “Accelerating Africa’s Industrialization.”