By Adedapo Adesanya
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is envisioning a regional integration in Africa, along the lines of the European Union (EU), according to the Vice-president of the Bank for regional development, integration and business delivery, Mr Khaled Sherif.
This disclosure was made by Mr Sherif during an interview with The Arab Weekly, who said the purpose of creating the bank was to support development plans in African nations, especially at times when such projects did not receive sufficient support from organisations like the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to him, the AfDB’s largest shareholders are Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa and Morocco, but the bank also receives investment from the United States, France, Germany and Nordic countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.
He also revealed that investment also come from non-Western countries like China, South Korea, India and Japan, which are all shareholders in the bank.
“Western countries want to ensure there won’t be a huge flow of immigrants from Africa to Europe. They want to create the conditions where Africans stay where they are,” said the VP.
This and more were reasons why there was advocacy for regional integration in Africa, something modelled along the lines of the European Union (EU0 in Europe.
“We push for freedom of movement and for having a common currency,” said Mr Sherif. “We are working with the African Union for continental free trade.” He said.
Speaking on means through which the bank is supporting the continent, the VP said the bank monitors how its funds are spent, “When we give assistance, we monitor, we don’t just write a check. We have to account for it to our investors.”
He noted that were occasions when the bank does not fund projects but offers governments advice based on feasibility studies carried out by the bank, adding that they also help direct businesses towards what it considers, successful strategies.
Speaking on the loan strategy of the bank, Mr Sherif said that it was basically “free money” because the bank’s objective was not to make money, as evident in its long term loans which generally span 20-50 years with 1-2 percent interest rates.
“The bank’s objective isn’t to make money. There are 600 million people without power in Africa; the bank’s primary mandate is to light up Africa, to feed Africa, to improve the quality of life for its people, agriculture and industry,” he said.
It was revealed that most of the money is given to governments, to fund energy, water and sanitation, as well as general infrastructure projects. The rest goes to no-sovereign parties, which include lines of credit to businesses and entrepreneurs.
He added that the bank encourages businesses to trade or export in the same region, whether immediate neighbours or in the continent as a whole, clarifying that the aim is to boost production in order to promote industrialsation.
Regarding investment on the continent, Mr Sherif noted that security was a major concern adding that conditions like youth unemployment made the environment susceptible to radicalism.
He also added that the bank was interested in alleviating vulnerable women on the continent and also provide feasible alternatives to coal in promotion of cleaner energy.
