African Dev’t Bank, Brazilian Dev’t Bank meet to finalize deal on long-term cooperation

The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Donald Kaberuka, will meet his fellow counterpart from the Brazilian Development Bank, Luciano Coutinho on April 26 to discuss how the two institutions can deepen their cooperation.

The talks will be held at the AfDB’s temporary relocation headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia.

“The two presidents will finalize discussions on long-term cooperation between the two institutions which commenced at a meeting between them during the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, 2011,” the AfDB said in a statement.

In Davos, Mr Kaberuka and Mr Coutinho were said to have agreed to explore long-term partnerships between the two institutions in five areas. They were knowledge sharing, energy, in particular hydro energy, agriculture and agribusiness, infrastructure and project preparation (a co-financed revolving fund).

This meeting was a follow-up to an earlier meeting between Mr Kaberuka and Mr Coutinho’s predecessor, Inacio Lula da Silva, and visits by AfDB staff to the Brazilian Development Bank, the statement indicated.

The relationship between Brazil and the African Development Bank dates back to 1973 when the country became a state participant of the African Development Fund, the concessional window of the AfDB Group. Some ten years later, Brazil became a member of the AfDB.  In 2009, the Brazilian Development Bank expressed its desire to formalize a cooperation framework with the AfDB.

By Ekow Quandzie