African Development Bank’s Executive Directors (Eds) Head To Namibia For Field Visit And Talks With Country’s Senior Officials And Stakeholders

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 28 March 2017 – African Development Bank Group Executive Directors are visiting Namibia from 3 to 7 April, 2017, to assess the impact of Bank projects in the country.

According to Executive Director for the country, Heinrich Mihe Gaomab II, the visit will focus on on-going projects in transport and logistics, financial intermediation, and public-private partnerships and pipeline projects in economic governance and competitiveness and infrastructure development. The Executive Directors will hold consultations with top government officials, and pay courtesy calls on the Head of State and the Prime Minister. Other meetings will help assess the effectiveness, sustainability and efficiency of Bank interventions in delivering its support in a timely and cost effective manner. Discussions will also be held with the private sector and civil society representatives.

“These annual field visits aim to examine the effectiveness of Bank policies and strategies, across a number of key sectors”, said ED Gaomab, highlighting that the meetings will be an occasion to share perspectives on the implementation of the Bank’s new strategic priorities encapsulated in the High5 agenda (Light up and power Africa; Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the life of African people). The delegation will also hold sessions with international financial institutions and donor partners to discuss the harmonization of bilateral efforts, and how the Bank will deliver the High5s in order to contribute significantly to enhancing the resilience of the Regional Member Countries.

This visit takes place at a time the Bank has seen tremendous growth in its partnership with Namibia. The size

of the Bank’s portfolio has more than doubled since 2009 and is at its highest level since the start of Bank

operations in the country. In line with country development priorities the on-going portfolio supports the strategic vision to be a regional transport logistics hub and the strengthening of financial intermediation to support private sector development. Along with increase in financial support, the Bank’s technical and knowledge advisory role has also grown to support implementation capacity, project readiness and inform policy dialogue. Since commencing operations in Namibia in1991, the Bank Group has committed about UA 509.5 million (USD705.42 million) in 25 operations in the country. Just over half of this funding has supported the financial sector (54%) and 41% supported the transport sector. The rest of the commitment is split among agriculture, power, social, water and multi-sector.

Asked how relevant the visit is to the Board, the spokesperson for EDs, Dr. Zaghloul stated that: “Namibia is increasingly becoming an active beneficiary of the Bank’s projects with an ambitious portfolio to strengthen the country’s aspiration to be a top emerging economy in the southern region. The country envisages becoming a regional transport logistics hub given its growing potential in the transport sector.”

The delegation includes 11 Board Members and one Senior Adviser acting for the Executive Director for Côte d’Ivoire, all representing 43 countries, namely: Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Comoros, Denmark, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Finland, Guinea (Conakry), Gabon, Germany, Guinea Bissau, India, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Morocco, Mauritania, Madagascar, Niger, Namibia, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Senegal, Sweden, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Togo, Tunisia, United States of America, Zimbabwe.