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0 Abuja NIGERIA
The era of aid or free money is gone. Africa must overhaul its approach toward achieving fast-paced development.”
In the face of dwindling global funding, tariffs, and geopolitical tensions, African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi Adesina said on Friday that Africa must wean itself from aid dependency and urgently chart its future through self-reliance, strategic partnerships, and leveraging its vast natural resources.
Adesina spoke on Friday in Abuja at the 14th Convocation Ceremony of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), where he delivered a thought-provoking lecture on “Advancing Africa’s Positioning within Global Development and Geopolitical Dynamics.”
“The recent dismantling of the official development aid agency in the US, and similar anti-aid measures in other parts of Europe, means that the old development models that Africa has always relied on will no longer work,” he told the audience.
“47 out of 54 African countries have been placed under higher US tariffs. The immediate direct effects of the tariffs on African countries will be a significant reduction in exports and foreign exchange availability. This will send other shockwaves through African economies,” he added.
To build resilient economies, Adesina said: “Africa must chart its future, relying not on the benevolence of others but on its own determination for self-reliance, building reliable alliances, leveraging opportunities in the global dynamics, while putting Africa first. Only then will Africa be great again!”
Some key initiatives led by the Bank under Adesina’s leadership include the ongoing establishment of the Africa Financing Stability Mechanism to help African countries refinance debt service payments; the development of Security-Indexed Investment Bonds to rebuild areas devastated by conflict; the creation of an African credit risk agency to fairly assess Africa’s investment risks; the implementation of the $25 billion African Adaptation Acceleration Program to support the continent’s resilience to climate change; and the development of a framework to revalue Africa’s GDP based on its natural capital wealth.
