Shortly after arriving at Dakar’s Blaise Diagne International Airport to begin a four-day official visit to Senegal earlier this week, African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina had a chance airport meeting with African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat.
Adesina, Senegal’s Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation Amadou Hott, and the African Union Commission Chairperson had an impromptu conversation about all things development-related for Africa. The discussion covered a range of important issues, including Senegal’s development agenda, infrastructure projects on the continent, vaccine production, regional integration and more.
The African Development Bank, the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa are working on a joint publication – an Index on Regional Integration in Africa. The three institutions are currently updating data on the status of regional integration, which represents an essential vector for development in Africa.
In essence, the impromptu coming together of these decision makers translated into a meeting of the African Development Bank’s High 5s – the Bank’s key priorities – and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
The men discussed ongoing efforts to deal with the challenges of Covid-19, including the African Vaccine Acquisition Fund set up by the African Union in response to the pandemic-imposed vaccine emergency. Adesina has been vocal and active in bringing the bank’s resources to the fight against the pandemic – particularly with its Covid-19 Response Facility – which has reduced many of Africa’s recent economic gains. The Bank has also been supporting the African Union’s African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The African Development Bank and the African Union are also working together through the Joint Secretariat Support Office (JSSO), a joint technical group for monitoring and evaluating Agenda 2063. The JSSO includes the African Development Bank, the African Union Commission, and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. It also deals with deals with African security issues, water, energy, climate change, among other challenges for the continent.
*AfDB
