As sustainable development finance remains a critical concern for African economies, the African Development Bank has invested in a suite of creative financing and support instruments, such as the Congo Basin Forest Fund, ClimDev-Africa Fund, Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, African Water Facility, and Africa Carbon Support Program.
According to a recent report by the African Development Bank, it is estimated that at least 310 million Africans (about 30% of the population) now fall within the middle-class bracket, which makes for an increased consumer market base demanding to be serviced with new goods, products and services.
"We have achieved political democracy but not yet economic democracy for all, " says Mthuli Ncube, the African Development Bank's chief economist and a native South African.
Sanou Mbaye, a former senior official at the African Development Bank, says more Chinese have come to Africa in the past ten years than Europeans in the past 400.
The fellowship, which is a partnership with three multilateral organizations- the African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the World Trade Organization (WTO), will provide three ambitious African professionals with an opportunity to gain first-hand experience at the highest levels of the multilateral organizations and gain insights into the process of policy making.
Ethiopia, where Mr O'Neill will wind up his visit by attending the annual meeting of the African Development Bank, is scarred by a recent war with Eritrea.
The African Development Bank has issued eight Eurobonds denominated in, or linked to, African currencies, starting with a bond in Botswanan pulas in 2005.
South African ministers have said they are hopeful of agreement to establish a BRICS development bank, though many modalities still have to be worked out.
Nothing better illustrated how things had changed than a conversation I had with some bankers while I was in Lisbon last year for the African Development Bank annual meeting.
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