The National Investment Bank (NIB) is to host senior management and experts in development finance across Africa in Accra from May 23 to 25 for the 2022 General Assembly of the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI).
The three-day assembly will take place at the Labadi Beach Resort on the theme: “Unlocking innovative resources for development finance: Agenda for African DFIs.”
A press statement from the bank said the event would come off at a time when NIB, the country’s foremost development finance institution, was being restructured to support industrial corporates with funding and advisory services in line with the government’s industrialisation programme.
Speakers
It said the key speakers included the Vice-President of the Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialisation of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Solomon Quaynor; the CEO of the European Organisation for Sustainable Development (EOSD), Arshad Rab; and the CEO of the TCX Fund, Ruurd Brouwer, among others.
It said the event would be attended by CEOs and senior management executives of African DFIs, supervisory authorities, including ministries of finance and central banks, representatives of international DFIs and agencies, and other key stakeholders in the development finance space.
Timeliness
The statement noted that Africa had, over the recent past, made strides in the areas of banking and finance, agriculture, education, health, infrastructure development, among others, all geared towards lifting the people out of poverty.
It, however, said the COVID-19 pandemic had not only crippled economies worldwide but had also succeeded in clawing back the gains made, slowing down, and in some cases, stopping entirely or stalling progress for many institutions and nations alike.
For NIB, the 2022 AADFI Annual General Assembly will provide a platform for stakeholders to re-strategise ways to obtain more investment for sustainable, environmentally-friendly developmental projects and ecosystems that will help Africa endure and withstand the shocks of future pandemics.
“It will also provide an opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences from different institutions and countries in development financing,” the statement said.
Activities
It said the event would feature the board of directors meeting, the annual workshop and the ordinary general assembly of the AADFI.
The statement said it would also include a retreat for chief executive officers (CEOs) of national DFIs.
Focus Area
It explained that the 2022 AADFI Annual General Assembly would examine options for raising suitable development funds to support the recoveries of the African economies as well as the possibilities and most innovative financing instruments available to African DFIs.
Solutions on innovative financing for development will also be proffered toward positively impacting the economy. The role of Ghana’s development finance institutions – NIB, Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Ghana Export-Import Bank (GEXIM), and the newly created Development Bank Ghana (DBG) – in development will be highlighted, and the need for them to be given the necessary support to perform.
“The issue of managing local currency risks and hedging solutions will also be presented, which will offer the opportunity to discuss solutions for strengthening the resilience of national DFIs in mobilising innovative resources for development projects,” it said.
The statement added that beyond the issues to be discussed, the annual event of the AADFI provides a unique platform for networking among the DFI community.
It said with the advent of the DBG, NIB would continue to focus directly on industrial corporates by providing medium to long-term financing and advisory services, while the development bank would complement the services of NIB by serving as a source of medium to long-term financing at reasonable interest rates for on-lending.