The Vice-President and Secretary General of the African Development Bank, Cecilia Akintomide, and the AfDB’s Acting Vice-President and Chief Economist, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa have announced the agenda for bank’s 50th Annual Meeting.
The duo made the agenda known at a press conference held at the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire where Akintomide described this year’s event as “particularly special”, noting that on May 28, the Board of Governors will be focused on electing one out of the eight presidential candidates as the next President of the AfDB.
During the 2015 Annual Meeting, the Bank will also mark its 50th anniversary. The celebrations were scheduled to be held last year, but were postponed in light of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
“We took a decision to focus our time and resources to support these countries in combating Ebola,” Akintomide said.
The Bank’s Annual Meeting bring together its shareholders, and a host of other stakeholders in its work, both African and international. They review the performance of both the Bank and the continent, and agree to plans, positions and priorities going forward.
On his part, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa explained that the choice of the theme for this year’s meetings, “Africa and the New Global Landscape” was to contribute to three major global events in 2015 that bear heavily on the future of Africa.
He listed these to include: the international conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July 2015; the UN conference on Sustainable Development Goals set for September 2015 in New York; and the UN Climate Change conference (COP21) to be held in Paris, in December 2015. “Africa plays a key role in each of these events.
The Acting Chief Economist and VP also indicated that the Annual Meetings will include a series of high-level seminars, as well as Opening and Closing Ceremonies, a Financial Presentation on the Bank’s performance, and the launch of some of the Bank’s flagship publications, including the Africa Economic Outlook 2015, the Bank’s Annual Report, and its Annual Development Effectiveness Review.