Hassan Abdalla, the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the outgoing Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has handed over the presidency of the Board to Kenya which will host the next annual meetings from 27 to 31 May 2024.
The 2023 AfDB annual meetings concluded last Friday. It was held in Sharm El-Sheikh, chaired by Abdalla, and opened by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
During a press conference held at the end of the meetings, Abdalla highlighted the directives President Al-Sisi alluded to during the opening session of the meetings and the importance of considering the development of non-traditional mechanisms to search for financing solutions that contribute to the implementation of the most urgent projects, especially in the areas of tackling climate change and sustainable development, in addition to calling on multilateral financing institutions to reconsider the criteria and conditions that qualify countries to obtain soft loans, especially in light of the escalating cost of borrowing and the increase in debt service burdens.
Abdalla called for expanding the AfDB’s lending to member states on concessional terms, especially that the strong credit rating of the bank helps it obtain low-interest financing. He stressed the need for a mechanism to reduce the risks associated with fluctuations in exchange rates, as those countries borrow to implement long-term projects in foreign currency, while you get the returns of the implemented projects through these loans in local currencies, which may represent one of the main pressures associated with resorting to external borrowing.
Moreover, the Governor of CBE praised the vital role that AfDB plays in enhancing stability and economic restructuring and building resilience for fragile countries to face the challenges the world is currently dealing with, including geopolitical risks, high inflation rates and the cost of debt.
Abdalla said that Egypt is working closely with the Bank on many projects in the field of food security, green investments and financial sectors.
The CBE governor also called for concerted African efforts to build and own platforms to refinance the debts of African countries, and face the global risks imposed on them due to the significant rise in the costs of obtaining financial liquidity.
He also stressed the need to utilize the high credit rating of AfDB, which no other financial institution within Africa have, in collecting, re-injecting and distributing low-cost liquidity to enhance the monetary stability of African governments and institutions.
Ikonomi Adesina, Chairperson of the AfDB Group, extended thanks and greetings to President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Hassan Abdalla for the distinguished organization of the bank’s annual meetings in Sharm El-Sheikh.
He also confirmed that the annual meetings for the year 2023 in Egypt are the best ever in the history of the bank’s meetings, thanks to the great efforts in the organization, reception, celebrations and events held throughout the days of the meetings in the ‘City of Peace’.
