John Mahama to attend AfDB Annual Meetings after eight years absence
The former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama would be attending the 52nd Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) taking place in Ahmedabad, India. The last time he attended this annual event of the Bank was in 2009 when it was held in Dakar, Senegal, and he was Vice President of Ghana at that time.
He, however, never attended any of the meetings held every year, when he was president. He was scheduled to speak at the 50th edition in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in 2015, but he didn’t show up.
He is however expected to attend this week’s meetings starting Monday May 22, 2017.
His aide, Stan Dogbe has confirmed to ghanabusinessnews.com, that he would be attending the meetings this time.
Mr. Dogbe also confirmed that the last time the former president attended the meetings was in 2009.
“In 2009 when he was VP and at which meeting he had gone to lobby the Bank for the consideration of funding the construction of the Sawla-Fufulso Road and other projects,” he wrote.
The Bank funded the 145km Fufulso-Sawla raod project with a financing of $157 million.
Mr. John Mahama was Vice President of Ghana from January 2008 to July 2009, under the Late President John Evans Atta Mills. President Mills died while in office in July 2009 and Mr. Mahama was effectively sworn-into office to take over as President. He subsequently won the presidential election in 2012 and served full term as president, but was decisively defeated in the 2016 presidential elections by Nana Akufo-Addo.
The Bank announced in a press release that Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal and Patrice Talon of Benin, and former President John Mahama will be attending the meetings.
Côte d’Ivoire’s Vice-President, Daniel Kablan Duncan, and his Nigerian counterpart, Yemi Osinbajo, are also expected to attend, it adds.
The Bank says the Ahmedabad meetinngs is the fourth time the event was hosted by a non-regional member country, after Valencia, Spain, in 2000; Shanghai, China, in 2007; and Lisbon, Portugal, in 2011. In 2018, the meetings will take place in Busan, Korea.
Ghana is in line to host the meetings from May 24-28, 2021, the Bank says.
The AfDB started operations in Ghana in 1973, and financed its first water and sanitation project in 1974. The Bank has since funded projects to the tune of more than $1 billion in Ghana.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
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