AfDB Launches 50th anniversary celebrations in Ghana

50TH ANNIVERSARY LAUNCH The Ghana Country Office of the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Monday, May 19, 2014 launched the celebration of the Banks 50th Anniversary, with an open day event at its premises in Ridge, Accra. The Golden Jubilee celebrations which are taking place in all AfDB offices across the Continent and in Kigali during the 2014 Annual Meetings from 19th -23rd May, will culminate in a main celebration in November 2014 at the Banks Headquarters in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire.

The Launch event was attended by His Excellency Vice President of the Republic, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur; several ministers of state including, Hon Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Amidu Suleimani and Hon. Minister of Agriculture, Kofi Humado, and other senior Government officials. In addition, more than 150 people including ambassadors and heads of international organizations accredited to Ghana, private sector, civil society representatives were present. Programme management staff from ongoing and past Bank funded projects, former bank staff including retired members as well as staff from the Ghana field office also participated in the event. The open day launch event included a presentation of a video on the African Development Banks 50 year-journey on the continent, statements on the Banks role in Africas development from historical and future perspectives by key note speakers and representative of former staff and elected officers, photo exhibitions and the screening of documentary films highlighting the Banks cooperation with the Government of Ghana and its activities in the country.

Welcoming the guests to the august gathering, AfDBs Resident Representative in Ghana, Mrs. Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade said that the Bank had remained a dynamic, solid and highly relevant institution in the face of global crises and challenges within the Continent. She added that the success of the 50 year journey could be attributed to the Banks ability to develop its strategic focus around the areas critical to Africas needs such as infrastructure, regional integration, private sector development, governance and skills technology and to the resilience of Management and staff. Mrs Akin-Olugbade indicated that the Banks mandate remained relevant today and affirmed that the Bank will continue to be at the forefront of Africas social and economic transformation. Finally, Mrs. Akin-Olugbade expressed gratitude to the Government and people of Ghana for the excellent cooperation. Honorable Kofi Humado, Honorable Minister for Agriculture in his remarks, thanked the Bank for the support rendered to Ghana, especially in the transport and agriculture sector. He expressed the hope that in the coming future the Banks intervention will propel Ghana to become a Net Donor.

Two key note speakers shared their expectations for the Bank over the next fifty years. Estelle Sowah, CEO of Google Ghana expressed her desire to see a leadership from Ghana and Africa that is well informed with a clear vision to implement sound economic policies. In the main, she recommended that technology should drive innovation and big thinking to achieve equality and access to basic needs such as health and education. Mike Nyinaku, CEO of Beige Capital Group spoke on the need to develop African Entrepreneurship and called on the Bank to be bold and flexible in supporting the private sector. A former Executive Director of the Bank, Mrs Peace Ayisi- Okyere paid homage to the contributions of former staff members of the Bank.

Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur commended the Bank for its role as a key development partner for Africa and Ghana, a partner who understands Africa. He noted that the Bank had intervened in many African countries and had contributed to improving livelihoods and reducing poverty particularly through its social inclusion programmes in health and education. The Vice President also paid special tribute to the Banks valuable support to Ghana dating back to 1973 and was hopeful of a continued and excellent cooperation in future. He further highlighted the singular choice of the Bank to address the inaugural session of the recently concluded National Economic Forum, in recognition of the Banks role as a trusted partner. He formally declared the 50th Anniversary celebrations duly launched. ABOUT THE AfDB

The African Development Bank is the continents leading development finance institution and a key development partner to its 53 Regional Member Countries; with an overall mission to promote sustainable economic growth, reduce poverty in Africa improve quality of education and livelihoods. In the light of these, the AfDB has intervened in areas that have impacted positively on the urban and rural poor and the marginalized.

THE AfDB IN GHANA The Bank Group commenced operations in Ghana in 1973. Since then, the Bank has financed 116 operations totaling more than USD 2.7 billion in the transport, agriculture, social, power and water and sanitation sector and finance sectors and continues to be one of the leading development partners in Ghana, providing a combination of technical and financial support to the country.

The Banks strategy for Ghana, for the period 2012 - 2016, well aligned with national development plans, is to support inclusive growth that generates economic opportunities and creates jobs with gender equality as a cross cutting theme. It seeks to contribute to bridging the infrastructure gap, promote poverty reduction, good governance, skills development, agriculture and rural development. It is structured along two pillars: (i) Improving productivity in Ghanaian enterprises and in particular in the micro, small and medium agribusiness firms. (ii) Supporting economic and structural reforms aimed at improving the business environment.

AfDBs active operations comprise 22 operations (18 public sector and 4 private sector) totalling approximately USD 860 million. Interventions are dominated by the transport sector, which accounts for 34% of the total portfolio, followed by agriculture sector (25%), social sector (14%), private sector (9%), power sector and water and sanitation sector each with 8%, and multi-sector (2%). Infrastructure leads with about 52% of total Bank commitments in the country but could be higher if infrastructure-related interventions in other sectors such as education and agriculture are considered.

CONCLUSION The AfDB will be using the months in the run up to the Anniversary Event in Cote dIvoire to reflect on its performance in terms of its overall vision and ideals, to capitalize on past experiences and lessons learnt and effectively channel its resources towards the economic transformation of Africa over the next 50 years. For further Information contact: Mrs. Marie-Laure Akin Olugbade The Resident Representative Ghana field office, African Development Bank Group No.1 Dr. Isert Road - 7th Avenue Ridge Accra, Ghana Tel: (233) 302 66 28 18/(233) 302 66 28 35