AfDB’s Africa50 fund to explore opportunities for financing Africa’s infrastructure

The African Union Commission (AUC), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) plan to explore opportunities for financing Africa’s infrastructure and in particular, through the AfDB’s Africa 50 Fund at a meeting.

The meeting which will be held in Tunis will also be dedicated to the challenge of financing Africa’s vision over the next 50 years, a press release issued on July 11, 2013 has stated.

According to the organizers, the competitiveness of African firms is due to lack of infrastructure, which has been in dire need of funding. The AfDB’s 50 Fund is being hailed as an innovative vehicle to advance a number of key related areas, including Africa’s natural resources, internal savings, external support and capital markets to finance bankable, high-return, transformational regional infrastructure projects.

The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Dr. Carlos Lopes said, “We need to optimize the impact of the various initiatives within a collective and coordinated framework. Ultimately, our aim is to strengthen partnerships to accelerate the delivery of Africa’s transformation agenda.”

By Dorcas Appiah