The African Development Bank (AFDB) has disclosed that it approved $8.2 billion to support Nigeria as well as some other countries last year.
This announcement was contained in its Annual Report for last year, to which the bank highlighted that the support was significantly higher than the last two years which were $6.3 billion (2021) and $6.0 billion (2020) respectively which is closers to the amount it rolled out in support in 2019 which was $10.1 billion.
Highlighting the achievement of the bank in the foreword of the report, AfDB President Akinwummi Adesina said: “Amid multiple global shocks, the [African Development] Bank once again demonstrated its unwavering commitment to African countries through targeted actions tailored to strengthening resilience across the continent,”.
The bank also noticed a decline in the real GDP growth of Africa which reduced from 4,8% in 2021 to 3.8% in 2022, which was attributed to inflation, rising fuel prices and rising geopolitical tensions, according to the report.
“The lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the growing impact of climate change, and adverse weather also played a role in slowing down gross domestic product(GDP) growth.”
The bank disclosed that its response to the continent’s food crisis and the supply disruptions of critical inputs for food production was its establishment of a $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility, which is expected to raise the production of several essential food staples and provide fertilizer and extension services.
The bank also highlighted in the report that, in a bid to boost gender equality in 2022, the bank launched cumulative support to women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across 27 countries and with the help of 56 financial institutions, it reached $1 billion in approved lending.
The bank however added that the replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF), the Bank Group’s concessional lending window to low-income countries recorded $ 8.9 billion commitment which the bank also noted $429 million dedicated for Climate Action Window, established to gather resources to support climate adaptation actions in ADF countries.
