The African Development Bank (AfDB) has secured $32.8 billion in investment commitments for projects in Africa, according to the bank’s president, who spoke to investors on Thursday at the end of a meeting.
The $32.8 Billion deal was secured at the three-day Africa Investment Forum was $15.6 billion for the Lagos-Abidjan mega highway, connecting West Africa’s two major cities in Nigeria and Ivory Coast, said AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina.
The 1,200-kilometre roadway will feature four to six lanes and is expected to be completed in around six years.
Adesina said; “Africa is a very bankable continent. We’ve gone through hard times because of the COVID-19 situation but here we are on a rebound. Africa is back for investments.”
Agriculture and agro-processing, education, energy and climate, healthcare, minerals and mining, and information and communications technology are among the sectors covered by the initiatives, which are part of the bank’s COVID-19 response.
On the health front, Adesina mentioned a new medical city in Accra, a fund for health services for low-income people in South Africa, and two platforms for pharmaceutical product manufacture, one in West Africa and the other in Kenya.
The forum was meant to be held late last year but was postponed due to a surge of Omicron coronavirus variant infections.
