ABUJA – Dr Ousmane Dore, the Country Director, African Development Bank (AfDB) in Nigeria, says the bank presently has a capital base of 103.53 billion dollars and 2,065 staff strength as at December 2013.
Dore disclosed this at a news conference marking the 50th anniversary of the bank on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said that the bank, which had evolved to become Africa’s premier development finance institution, started with the capital base of 250 million dollars in 1964 in Lagos.
According to Dore, AfDB commands the respect of its much older peers; like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an undisputed development finance institution.
The country director said that AfDB was currently financing projects and programmes as well as dissemination of knowledge on development issues in all regional member countries.
He stated that the bank’s funding envelop covered infrastructure, which accounted for more than half of the funding, agriculture and rural development, social, finance and environmental sectors.
Dore said that the bank had committed a cumulative 4,501 loans and grants valued at 104 billion dollars between 1967 and 2013 in its member countries.
According to him, the AfDB has a total investment of about five billion dollars in agriculture, infrastructure, education and social development, environment, as well as peace and security in Nigeria as at 2013.
“AfDB’s lending portfolio in Nigeria since 1971 is five billion dollars, while its current project portfolio in the country is two billion dollars.
“The bank will continue to support the country’s policies in infrastructure development, agriculture and other sectors to get to the position of 20th economy in the world,’’ he said.
Dore said that the banks would focus on the next 50 years, under the guiding principle of its Vision 2063 programme as well as the establishment of the “Africa50 Fund’’ to build the desired continent.
“AfDB will strive to build the Africa we want through a new global partnership platform championing projects that tackle Africa’s infrastructure deficit,’’ he said. (NAN
