By Asmau Ahmad
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said he is impressed with the bold and sound policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for Nigeria’s economy.
Adesina, who met with President Tinubu at the just concluded Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, France, said the AfDB will strongly support Tinubu’s vision for Nigerian economy.
In his verified tweeter handle @akin_adesina, the AfDB boss said, “I had a great meeting with President Tinubu during the new global finance pact summit in Paris. I was impressed by his bold &sound policies for Nigeria’s economy. The African Development Bank will strongly support his vision for Nigerian economy.”
Meanwhile, Adesina has once again underscored the case for multilateral development banks (MDBs)to be allowed to leverage International Monetary Fund Special Drawing Rights.
He said with an increased allocation, MDBs could crowd in much-needed resources for developing nations to fight climate change and fast-track the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Speaking during a panel session at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, Adesina said MDBs could leverage an allocation of $200 billion, and turn this into a trillion dollars.
Adesina said: “The MDBs are leveraging machines. They can leverage the SDR’s by three to four times. So that leverage is very important to have.”
The African Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank have been championing the re-channeling of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) issued by the International Monetary Fund to multilateral development banks.
With the re-allocation, the African Development Bank can provide greater financing to regional and national development banks across Africa, as part of the Finance in Common, to accelerate achievement of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Adesina announced that the proposal which the African Development Bank is working on with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be complementary to the Fund’s efforts.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who spoke on the same panel, announced that her institution had reached its target of making $100 billion in special drawing rights available for vulnerable countries.
“We have reached $100 billion on lending of SDRs. That was our target from 2021. We have achieved that target, and US$ 60 billion is already in the Fund working for countries,” Georgieva said.
