09 Mars 2023
ABIDJAN, March 8 (Infosplusgabon) – The United States candidate for the presidency of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, made the first stop of his world tour in Abidjan on Monday. He met in the Ivorian economic capital the President of the African Development Bank Group, Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, his management and his board of directors. Mr. Banga spoke of the need for the World Bank Group to develop a strong partnership with the African Development Bank Group in order to achieve transformative results.
The candidate for the presidency of the World Bank highlighted three major problems affecting many regions of the world, which concern him. These include social inequalities, the tension between humanity and nature, and the tendency to apply short-term solutions to long-term problems, which only yields poor results. He said the challenges facing the world have been complicated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, environmental degradation and the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The former CEO of Mastercard believed that technology could go a long way in solving the challenges facing the world. He also referred to the major role of the private sector in mobilizing the capital resources needed to ensure significant economic development. This encompasses the capital of the private sector as well as its ingenuity and capacity for innovation, necessary to meet the many challenges facing the world, he said.
Mr Adesina said Mr Banga’s call for a renewed partnership echoed his own ideas. He thus underlined that the World Bank and the African Development Bank should find a new way of working together. “It goes beyond the financial aspect. It is more about how we work together to optimize resources by engaging governments, the private sector and other stakeholders to make meaningful change,” he pleaded.
Mr. Adesina stressed that climate change remains the most serious existential threat to humanity: “Climate change is decimating lives, displacing people, creating refugees and deepening poverty. »
“It’s what I call the disaster triangle: growing poverty, growing youth unemployment and environmental degradation,” warned Mr. Adesina. This is fertile ground for terrorism. »
The President of the African Development Bank has called for the establishment of a global security council on the environment and biodiversity, two concerns that are not getting the attention they deserve compared to other global challenges such as than war.
Mr Adesina called for a new way of measuring the wealth of nations instead of basing it on gross domestic product. “This ignores important factors such as a country’s contribution to carbon emissions and its impact on biodiversity,” he said.
“Globally, there is a need for greater responsibility to combat the impact of climate change, environmental degradation and protect biodiversity,” said the President of the African Development Bank.
He stressed the need to increase economic opportunities, especially in rural areas where infrastructure investment is crucial. He told the US delegation that 34 heads of state and government attended the recent Dakar 2 Food Summit where they committed to national food and agriculture pacts. He said development partners had identified programs worth nearly $52 billion in support of agriculture and food security for the next three-year period.
Mr. Adesina called for a similar approach to solving the problem of lack of energy in Africa “where more than 600 million people do not have access to energy”. “This problem can be solved through initiatives such as the Desert to Power initiative led by the African Development Bank, which aims to provide green electricity to more than 200 million people in eleven countries” using the capacity solar,” said Adesina.
On February 23, President Joe Biden announced Ajay Banga as the United States’ nominee for President of the World Bank Group. Its current chairman, David Malpass, recently announced his intention to step down by the end of June 2023.
FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/DDM/GABON2023
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