The African Development Bank began its annual meeting today in Brazzaville under the cloud of an Ebola outbreak in central Africa and continental economic fallout from the Iran war.
The week-long gathering is the first since Mauritania’s former Finance Minister Sidi Ould Tah was elected the lender’s president a year ago. He has made enhanced access to “affordable capital” the core of his agenda for Africa’s largest development lender.
Tah wants to push the bank to narrow the continent’s financing gap of $400 billion by diversifying fundraising to include a broader set of fund managers, such as private sector companies. Africa’s development finance receipts have fallen sharply with cuts to international aid budgets by Western powers, most notably the US. The continent is also facing new stresses caused by energy shortages related to the Iran war, with rising fuel prices raising the cost of living in much of the continent and driving discontent.