The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said it is set to host about 3,000 participants comprising leaders and delegates from 54 African countries in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, to chart a course for regional integration.
With one billion people. Africa has a combined GDP of more than $3.4tn. Such a market can create huge opportunities for producers on the continent. But to make it a reality, African governments and regional economic communities must intensify effort aimed at facilitating the free movement, the bank said.
Briefing 28 journalists from 21 African countries who were at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan in Cote D’Ivoire last weekend for a workshop on “Reporting Sustainable Development”, the Secretary General of AfDB, Prof. Vincent Nmehielle, said the meeting allowed the board to look at the past one year’s operations and take vital decisions.
The over 3,000 participants will include finance ministers, governors of central banks, policy makers, civil society groups, heads of international organisations, among others.
The Chief Economist of AfDB, Dr. Celestin Monga, said the bank’s 2019 annual meeting in Malabo, holding from June 11 to 14, 2019, would consist of the statutory meeting of shareholders and the boards and knowledge events.
The theme of the meeting is one of the bank’s five strategic priorities known as the High 5s. They are Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the quality of life of the people of Africa.
Dr. Monga said the regional power session would cover experts’ discussions on solving access to electricity in Africa.
“It is a continent where more than 600 million people don’t have access to electricity, and if we remain in the dark, we are not going anywhere,” he said.
