Malawi needs to improve access to financing
Malawi and other African countries have been asked to improve access to financing to accelerate the transformation of their economies.
President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Akinwumi Adesina said this at the Africa-France Summit which took place in Bamako at the weekend.
He stressed that Malawi and other African countries can speed up its economic transformation through the Bank’s five main priorities, the “High 5”: “Light up and power Africa”; “Feed Africa”; “Industrialise Africa”; “Integrate Africa”; and “Improve the quality of life of African populations.
These five key priorities are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, as demonstrated by an independent evaluation conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
However, Adesina noted that the resources needed for Africa’s economic transformation are enormous. That is why the African Development Bank is poised to launch the Africa Investment Forum designed to create a space where supply and demand can meet.
Advocating for agroindustrialisation and involvement of young people in this sector of the future, Adesina said that “the solution to the migratory crisis is in Africa”.
He said this is why the Bank launched the “Enable Youth” programme, which will help create 1.5 million jobs in 30 countries”, helping to retain young people in Africa.
Adesina also highlighted the need to reduce areas of fragility. That is why the Bank launched recently the Forum on Resilience in Africa, which will enable us to achieve the Top 5 in 10,000 communities in 1,000 days, with an immediate impact in fragile areas. “Let’s mobilise and make the High 5 reality in order to unleash the potential of Africa,” he said.
