We have 80 member countries вЂ“ yes, we need their resources, but we also need to help them increase their business and investment opportunities in Africa.вЂќ So India contributed US $27 million to our African Development Fund replenishment last year, вЂ¦ but in 2015 it announced a US $10 billion Line of Credit through the Exim Bank of India over the next five years for Indian companies wishing to invest in Africa. вЂњOur non-regional member countries support us with development funds,вЂќ Adesina confirmed, вЂњbut more importantly they invest in Africa for their own good. вЂњSo we are truly sweating the balance sheet,вЂќ he said. He cited the BankвЂ™s partial risk and credit guaranty products designed to de-risk othersвЂ™ lending, its capacity to coordinate syndicated loans (with a US $1 billion syndicated loan in 2016, across eight Banks, for the South African energy utility Eskom), and its co-financing arrangements, notably with China, Japan and Korea. вЂњThe Bank helped to establish a tax agency in Togo, and within 12 months, tax revenue had increased by 25%,вЂќ he said. вЂњThere is no sense in these sovereign wealth funds investing outside Africa,вЂќ he said, вЂњwhen they could be investing inside it.вЂќ He charted the continentвЂ™s progress in raising tax resources and stemming illicit flows. He pinpointed the continentвЂ™s untapped wealth вЂ“ US $334 billion a year in pension resources, which will rise to US $1 trillion by 2030, and US $164 billion in sovereign wealth funds. вЂњThese figures are the highest in our history,вЂќ he said.ДЇielding questions about the BankвЂ™s financial status and its capacity to fill the funding gaps that inhibit the continentвЂ™s growth, he stressed the BankвЂ™s AAA credit rating, and its ability to unlock othersвЂ™ funding вЂ“ at a rate of some US $4 for every US $1 of its own вЂ“ to finance development.

He described a Bank вЂњfit-for-purposeвЂќ and вЂњstronger than ever beforeвЂќ, which made a record US $10.4 billion of approvals in 2016, and US $6.1 billion of disbursements. Setting the scene, he described the African continent holding its own economically against global headwinds and commodity price drops, and in large measure exceeding global patterns, with four of the worldвЂ™s five fastest-growing economies being in Africa, 14 of its countries growing above 5% in 2016, and 18 between 3% and 5%. Thanking his Indian hosts, he said, вЂњIn the spirit of self-determination, the African Development Bank вЂ“ and the continent for which it works вЂ“ is proud to hold these Annual Meetings in the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi.вЂќ Our continentвЂ™s food and agriculture markets will be worth US $1 trillion within 13 years.вЂќДЄdesina was addressing press at the start of the African Development Bank GroupвЂ™s 52nd Annual Meetings, held in Ahmedabad, India, from May 22-26, 2017. вЂњThe African future is not, as some people think, based on oil and gas: you canвЂ™t drink oil or smoke gas. вЂњWe simply have to transform African agricultureвЂќ, he said. He asked what use it is that Africa produces 75% of the worldвЂ™s cocoa beans, but produces only 2% of its chocolate. вЂњAnd yet itвЂ™s only GovernmentвЂ™s role to create policy, incentives and infrastructure вЂ“ itвЂ™s ultimately the private sector, which must step up and invest along the length of the agricultural value chain, from producing to processing, from farm to fork.вЂќ ThatвЂ™s why we have launched the ENABLE Youth programme with the aim of establishing 10,000 youth-run agribusinesses in every country in Africa.вЂќДЄ former Nigerian Agriculture Minister, Adesina stressed that agriculture is the most strategic sector for a countryвЂ™s economic growth, and that a Minister of Agriculture needs to work hand-in-hand with a Minister of Finance and a Minister of Trade and Investment. ItвЂ™s not for older people вЂ“ the average age of our African farmers is 60 вЂ“ but itвЂ™s for young people. Agriculture is not a development activity or a social sector: itвЂ™s the biggest money-making business in the world. Our problem is that we have viewed African agriculture through the wrong lens for too many years. President Adesina continued: вЂњSee agriculture as agribusiness: itвЂ™s the best way to create jobs and make money. That was in large measure due to the power of political will,вЂќ he said Monday, вЂњand you will see much political will on display here at the Bank GroupвЂ™s Annual Meetings in Ahmedabad in the next few days.вЂќ вЂњIndia is an inspiration to Africa, in that its Green Revolution took just three years. India is the perfect place for the African Development Bank to focus on the transformative power of agriculture, Bank President Akinwumi Adesina has told the African, Indian and international press.

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