ECOWAS supports calls for return of AfDB headquarters to Ivory Coast

The ECOWAS Commission is supporting ongoing efforts by the government of Cote d’Ivoire for the return of the headquarters of the African Development Bank (AfDB) to Abidjan, following its temporary relocation to Tunis in 2003 following the political crisis in that country.

According to an ECOWAS statement, the President of the Commission, His Excellency James Victor Gbeho told a delegation from the Bank’s office in Nigeria, who called on him that “ECOWAS Member States were in favour of the return of the headquarters following the return of peace to Cote d’Ivoire.”

The AfDB in June 2011 said that it will return to its permanent headquarters in Ivory Coast by the year 2014.

“There would be 12-month notice periods after the Governors have taken a final decision to return to its headquarters in Cote d´Ivoire”, said the AfDB at its 2011 Annual Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.

Mr. Ousmane Dore, AfDB’s Resident Representative in Nigeria told Mr Gbeho that the Bank was conscious of returning its headquarters to Abidjan and was “already making efforts towards the renovation of the building.”

By Ekow Quandzie