By BENEDICT TEMBO
African Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Adesina has described Zambian Republican President Hakainde Hichilema as one of the vision carriers for Africa’s agriculture renaissance and food security.
Dr Adesina reminisced President Hichilema’s address to delegates at the Feed Africa Summit in Dakar, Senegal in January this year during which the President emphasised the need to scale-up agriculture productivity; investing in young people; infrastructure development through public-private partnerships; science and technology; and energy and regional interconnectedness.
Dr. Adesina also expressed goodwill and gratitude to the leadership and the people of Zambia for constantly supporting AfDB reforms.
The AfDB President said this during a high-level bilateral meeting with the Zambian delegation led by Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane at the ongoing Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
“In Senegal, President Hichilema spoke from the heart about scaling-up agriculture productivity in Africa. His passion for the sector makes Zambia one of Africa’s carriers of hope for food security,” observed Dr. ADESINA, and he added that, “complimentary to the efforts of other partners, we can do a lot together to transform agriculture in Zambia through establishment of special agriculture processing zones.”
Responding to Dr Adesina, Dr. Musokotwane reiterated calls previously made at other fora that parties to Zambia’s debt restructuring process need to reach a conclusive resolution because, “hope delayed is hope denied.”
The AfDB president also pledged his organization’s support for initiatives aimed at enhancing domestic resource mobilisation, improving tax administration, infrastructure development and support to the private sector.
He added that, “Africa needs a continent[1]wide financial stability mechanism to help member states to cope with economic shocks,” when they arise.
Dr. Adesina thanked the people of Zambia for the land offered to his organisation in Chongwe/Lusaka to build a permanent office complex, subject to board approval.
He took the opportunity to invite Zambia to the Africa Investment Forum to be held in Morocco, in November, 2023.
Dr. Adesina encouraged the Zambian delegation to the upcoming Forum in Morocco to ensure that appropriate promotional and marketing packages are prepared in readiness for engagement with prospective investors and project promoters.
Dr. Musokotwane was accompanied to the AfDB/Zambia bilateral meeting by Ministry of Finance and National Planning Permanent Secretary for Economic Management and Finance Danies Chisenda, Zambia’s Ambassador to Egypt, Major General Topply lubaya (retired), AfDB Executive Director for Zambia Mauritius and Malawi Gerard Bussier, and AfDB Alternate Executive Director for Zambia, Mauritius and Malawi Shebo Nalishebo.
Speaking earlier, Dr. Musokotwane called on the leadership of Africa’s premier financial institution to consider front-loading resources to ensure that programmes under respective assistance strategies proceed smoothly. He took the opportunity to reiterate Zambia’s support for the Bank’s progressive reforms and to good usage of its resources.
The 2023 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank are scheduled to end later today.
