PPP to help deliver African Development Bank High 5s

The African Development Bank is focusing on five priorities for accelerating economic transformation and calls them the “High 5s”. They are contained in the bank’s Annual Development Effectiveness Review 2016, published in June 2016. 

Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, said: “To prosper, Africa needs a massive, concerted, ambitious effort to transform our economies,”, said. “We need growth that benefits everyone. The High 5 priorities will get us there more quickly.”

The bank, headquartered in Abijdan, Côte d’Ivoire, is reorganising itself and has adopted a new business model with three new vice- presidencies working on: power, energy and green growth; agriculture, human and social development; and the private sector, infrastructure and industrialisation. It is establishing five regional integration and business delivery offices and aims to become more agile and responsive to the continent’s needs.

The High 5s are closely linked to the bank’s ten-year strategy. Public-private partnerships with developers, financiers and other stakeholders are crucial to achieving these objectives.

• Light up and power Africa — About 635m Africans still live without electricity. Demand for energy is rising rapidly. Through the New Deal on Energy for Africa, the AfDB is working to unify efforts to achieve universal access to energy. Its new Energy Strategy aims to increase energy production and access, and improve affordability, reliability and energy efficiency.
• Feed Africa — More than 70% of Africans depend for their livelihoods on agriculture. Agriculture could improve the lives of millions if its full potential were unlocked. The Bank is framing its agricultural operations within a business-oriented approach, based on a deeper understanding of the obstacles, potential and investment opportunities.
• Industrialise Africa — A persistent lack of industrialisation is holding back Africa’s economies. Over the next 10 years, the Bank will invest $3.5bn per year through direct financing and leveraging to implement six flagship industrialisation programmes in areas where the AfDB can best leverage its experience, capabilities and finances.
• Integrate Africa — Through its Regional Integration Policy and Strategy, the Bank is focusing its integration efforts not just on movement of goods and services but also on mobility of people and investment.
• Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa — Africa’s economic growth has not been rapid or inclusive enough to create enough jobs and improve quality of life. The Bank is committed to building up the availability of technical skills so that African economies can realise their full potential in high-technology sectors. Acknowledging the urgent need to address climate change, the Bank will nearly triple its annual climate financing to reach $5bn a year by 2020.