I.A.M - Magazine - Page 17
LEADERS CORNER
With a total cost of $11.4million, this project aims to
ensure interoperability of all financial services regardless
of the type of account. The project was instrumental in
helping the region achieve a financial inclusion rate of 75
percent by 2023. The other one is the integration of the
East African Community's Payment and Settlement
Systems. At an overall cost of $35million, it aims to
integrate all the country systems of the East African
Central Banks including South Sudan through a central
Switch.
Capital Markets Integration: The AfDB’s capital markets
interventions aim to strengthen African capital markets’
ability to effectively intermediate long-term financing. The
Bank is supporting orderly capital markets integration to
leverage scale, improve product diversity and attraction
of African capital markets to institutional investors (such
as pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign
wealth funds) within and outside the continent. Projects
like the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP)
directly support the AfCFTA’s objective of ensuring free
flow capital across the continent.
Under AELP, the Bank is supporting the African
Securities Exchanges Association to link African stock
exchanges and boost Pan-African investment flows. The
AELP’s impact includes implementation of an AELP Link
Technology Platform to support the infrastructure for
cross- border securities trading; increase in the volume
of cross-border securities investments and trading on the
participating exchanges including the seven exchanges
under AELP Phase 1 ( i.e. South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria,
Morocco, Kenya, Mauritius, and WAEMU) and additional
exchanges being included in AELP Phase 2 such as
Ghana,
Botswana,
Uganda,
and
Eswatini;
In the Bank’s new
Ten-Year Strategy,
WE BELIEVE IN AFRICA’S
PROSPEROUS FUTURE,
and we are betting on it
and for it, through our
investments.
|
operationalization of linked stock exchanges across all
regions of the continent. It also includes establishment
and functionality of the African Stockbrokers and
Securities Dealers Association (ASSDA).
The Power of PPPs
At the AfDB we are also big on advocating for Public
Private Partnerships (PPPs). By leveraging PPPs, the
Bank helps mobilise additional resources, so that Africa
can advance on its economic development trajectory even when governments have limited fiscal resources.
Several impactful projects have benefited from PPPs
facilitated by the Bank. Two of the many notable
examples are the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project in
Kenya, one of the largest wind power projects in Africa,
and the Diamniadio Toll Highway in Senegal. Many other
sectors such as agro-processing, health and technology
have also benefited from PPPs.
Following the global ravages brought by COVID-19, fiscal
resources in most countries (not just in Africa), are still
quite limited, as the world still recovers from the shocks
to its fiscal resources. PPPs are therefore a key mitigator.
Pathway to Hope
There is no reason Africa cannot achieve greater heights
- given the continent’s vast natural resources.
In the Bank’s new Ten-Year Strategy, we believe in Africa’s
prosperous future – and we are betting on it and for it,
through our investments. This is why we invest in
impactful infrastructure projects – in the firm belief that
this will propel Africa’s industrialization, uplift its people
and create the Africa we want. Infrastructure
development is Africa’s pathway to hope – let us all
embrace it.
