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African Development Bank secures $32.8 billion for projects in Africa
12:45 CAT | 18 Mar 2022
File photo: AfDB
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has secured $32.8 billion in investment commitments for projects in Africa, the bank’s president said at the closing of a meeting with investors on Thursday.
The largest deal secured at the three-day Africa Investment Forum was $15.6 billion for the Lagos-Abidjan mega highway, connecting West Africa’s two major cities in Nigeria and Ivory Coast, said AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina.
The highway of about 1 200 km (745 miles) will have four to six lanes and should be completed in about six years, he said.
“Africa is a very bankable continent. We’ve gone through hard times because of the Covid-19 situation but here we are on a rebound,” said Adesina. “Africa is back for investments.”
The projects, part of the bank’s Covid-19 response, touch on sectors including agriculture and agro-processing, education, energy and climate, healthcare, minerals and mining, and information and communications technology.
Adesina said that on the health side, projects include a new medical city in Accra, a fund for health services for low-income populations in South Africa, and two platforms for manufacturing pharmaceutical products: one in West Africa and one in Kenya.
The forum was meant to be held late last year but was postponed due to a surge of Omicron coronavirus variant infections.
Source: Reuters
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