Climate Resilience, Just Energy Transition In Africa Takes Centre Stage At AfDB Annual General Meetings

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – African Development Bank (AfDB) said the focus of its Annual General Meetings thus year, will be on the impact of climate change on Africa and the need for a just energy transition on the continent.

The event which is the 57th Annual Meetings of the AfDB and the 48th Annual Meeting of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional financing window of the Bank Group, will be held from 23rd to 27th of May in Accra, Ghana. For the first time since 2019, many delegates at this year’s meetings, will meet in person.

The Bank Group’s Secretary General, Professor Vincent Nmehielle disclosed this during a virtual press conference convened to brief journalists about the agenda of the five-day meetings. The Secretary General and other top officials of the Bank, answered questions from the over 80 journalists who attended the event.

Nmehielle said the theme, “Achieving Climate Resilience, and a Just Energy Transition for Africa”, was chosen to provide a framework for the governors of the Banks to share their experiences and engage in addressing climate change and energy transition challenges, as well as their policies and measures to deal with them.

“Governments will be able to show what their countries have done in this regard”, he said.

Speaking further, he urged journalists, as “partners and advocates for development”, to spread the word about the impact of the Bank’s work and to press their governments for the change they want to see.

“The Bank is a catalyst…The Bank exists to help regional member countries to achieve their socio-economic development. The Annual Meetings will be exciting. We look forward to seeing you in Accra”, he added.

A key highlight during this year’s meetings will be a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the ADF and the meetings will also serve as a precursor to the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP 27, which is being called the “African COP”, to be held in November in Egypt. Governments will once again lobby for the continent’s positions on climate change.

AfDB’s Acting Chief Economist and Vice President, Prof. Kevin Urama noted that resilience was all encompassing, adding that the Bank will be focusing a lot more on infrastructure investments to build the resilience of countries, social resilience, economic resilience and also environmental resilience in general, including climate resilience.

Prof. Urama also stressed Bank’s role as a thought leader in Africa, saying the meetings would include four main knowledge events that would touch on topics such as building a digital economy, green jobs for youth and a special session on climate change that would include the launch of the Bank’s African Economic Outlook for 2022 report.

The Bank officials fielded questions on a range of topics, including its role in infrastructure development, Africa’s energy transition, and a $1.5 billion plan to avert a food crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine.

Director of the Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department at AfDB, Dr. Martin Fregene, said the $1.5 billion food plan would address immediate needs triggered by the ongoing conflict in Europe. The plan, according to him, will support farmers with seeds and fertilizers in the next wet season which starts around October in the southern hemisphere.

Dr. Fregene added that Bank also has a medium- to longer-term plan to help countries build resilience, known as Mission 1 for 200, which will help farmers boost production to 100 million tonnes of food to reach 200 million people.