The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo, has expressed revulsion towards African Development Agencies for not leading the frontier of development of African countries and allowing external agencies to fund development projects in the continent.
He said that the African Development Bank should be the most powerful agency for financing Africa's development projects and that external agencies should not be in the position to fund more projects in Africa than African development agencies.
President Akufo-Addo made these remarks during a Presidential Dialogue with the theme: “Africa’s Development Challenges and Opportunities” of the ongoing Annual meetings of the African Development Bank in Ghana.
''I’m always upset to hear that external agencies are in the position to fund more projects in Africa than our development agencies. The African Development Bank should be the most powerful agency for financing Africa's Development,'' Akufo-Addo said.
He said that African countries should work collectively such that the African Development Bank consistently has access to the pool of the resources out there in the international capital markets and fumes over the inability of the ADF to go to the international capital markets.
''I still don't quite understand why that should be the case especially since that's where the money is, you hear about monies that are in the private hands against those in public resources and the difference is stuck,'' Akufo-Addo indicated.
Ghanaian president, Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo, believes having access to the global capital markets will enable African Development Agencies to play this primary function of being responsible for the development and the financing of the development of the continent.
Akufo-Addo also spoke of the continent’s ongoing fiscal and socioeconomic challenges and the importance of the African Development Bank to the continent’s development goals.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo extended Ghana's appreciation to the African Development Bank (AfDB) for funding the construction of the Pokuase Interchange with a loan sum of $83 million. The four-tier Pokuase Interchange, which is one of the finest inchanges in Africa was inaugurated in November, 2020.
Source:Abdul-Razak Mohammed(Real Estate Times Africa)
