The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, says security expenditures are rapidly displacing development expenditures in the ECOWAS sub-region because of increased levels of insecurity.
Dr Akinwumi, who said this Saturday in Abuja at the 56th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority Heads of State and Government, explained that he was already discussing with International Monetary Funds (IMF)’s Managing Director on how they could come up with new financing instruments to address the exogenous security- related shocks.
He said, while opportunities abound in the region, growth and future prosperity were under multiple threats because a number of countries, especially Niger, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Nigeria now spend a high share of their public budgets on security expenditures.
“This cannot continue. It’s time for bold approaches to secure the sub-region. We must address security-investment linkages, as investments will not go into places that are insecure.
“I applaud the Heads of State and Governments for their leadership to mobilize $1 billion to ensure the region’s security. When leaders decide things happen. The African Development Bank will be ready to help ECOWAS on this fund, especially to help structure how this fund can be securitized.
“With securitization, it will be possible to leverage several times more resources from the capital market, through the launch of an ‘ECOWAS security investment bond,” he also said.
The AfDB president, who congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his 77th birthday and as he took on the mantle of leadership as Chairman of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, promised to accelerate Africa’s development and integration by unlock the full potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“We will integrate the ECOWAS region. I see much hope ahead: transport corridors and highways. Railways connection across the region.
“An integrated monetary zone and financial markets. A zone free for trade, with free movement of people, capital, goods and services. An ECOWAS region whose new currency would be ECO. And the echoes of that will reverberate across the world,” he added.
Dr Akinwumi, who was invited to the the ECOWAS Summit by the President of the commission, Jean Claude Brou, expressed delight with the partnership between the African Development Bank and the ECOWAS Commission.
He said the AfDB’s portfolio investments in the ECOWAS region totals $20 billion with major focus on energy and transport infrastructure, private sector, regional financial market integration, water and sanitation.
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