The African Development Bank (AfDB) has partnered with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to foster public and private investments in crucial economic sectors. The partnership will focus on environmental protection, large-scale quality infrastructure investment, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), financial inclusion of the female gender, education and training, and the health sector.
The Joint Action Plan seeks to actively support high-impact investments across Africa. According to the senior Vice President of AfDB, Swazi Tshabalala, the partnership will promote the bank’s commitment to the development of Africa, particularly through strategies that will ensure better feeding mechanisms. Tshabalala added that the plan is hinged on the AfDB’s “High Fives”, which are: Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa; ndustrialize Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the Quality of life for the people of Africa.
Vice President of the EIB, Thomas Ostros, noted that the partnership will help African countries chart the way to economic and social recovery from Covid-19.
Efforts have been ongoing to protect the environment through the Great Green Wall Initiative, which the AfDB had pledged a $6.5 billion support for. It is an AU-led anti-desertification project, which aims to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes. Once completed, the Wall will be an 8,000 km stretch of land across the continent. This will support communities to deepen food production on fertile land, increase economic opportunities, and engender food security. According to the United Nations, as of 2020, Nigeria has 8 million trees produced and planted and 1,396 jobs created in this regard.
