{"id":634167,"date":"2019-06-11T15:31:20","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T15:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"<br><div>\n<figure class=\"fff post-thumbnail\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><img class=\"post_layout_5_img\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghana-mma.com\/2019\/06\/AfDB.jpg\" alt=\"Africa\u2019s regional integration gains momentum"},"modified":"2019-06-11T15:31:20","modified_gmt":"2019-06-11T15:31:20","slug":"africas-regional-integration-gains-momentum-at-54th-afdb-meeting-in-malabo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/11\/africas-regional-integration-gains-momentum-at-54th-afdb-meeting-in-malabo\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa\u2019s regional integration gains momentum at 54th AfDB meeting in Malabo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"fff post-thumbnail\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"post_layout_5_img\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/AfDB.jpg\" alt=\"Africa\u2019s regional integration gains momentum at 54th AfDB meeting in Malabo\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina has said that Africa can develop with dignity and confidence if it properly ensures integration.<\/p>\n<p>He said this in an interview with the press at 2019 Annual Meetings, due to open Tuesday in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.<\/p>\n<p>The theme of this year\u2019s meetings is \u2018Regional Integration for Africa\u2019s Economic Prosperity.\u201d Regional integration gained momentum with the agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)in March 2018 and is now at the threshold of its launch next month.<\/p>\n<p>The AfCFTA will constitute the world\u2019s largest free trade area, consolidating an integrated market of 1.3 billion consumers with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of about $3.4 trillion. It is estimated that Africa\u2019s GDP growth could reach 6% a year in a continent without borders(UNECA).<\/p>\n<p>Answering questions from pan-African and international journalists, Adesina said that the Bank has invested around $1 billion through various initiatives, including cross border infrastructure,to move tradeacross African borders. Most has gone to small and medium enterprises \u2013 the engine of economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>Cesar A. Mba Abogo, Equatorial Guinea\u2019s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, who co-hosted the press conference,spoke about the country\u2019s significant efforts on the economic and infrastructure front, to connect markets in Central Africa.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt is a real privilege to host the Bank\u2019s Annual Meetings\u2026 the Bank\u2019s High 5s \u2013 are very much in line with our development strategy between now and 2025,\u201d Abogo said, revealing that the country\u2019s road networks both in Malabo and throughout the mainland, were better than across large parts of Africa. In addition, Equatorial Guinea has invested in social housing and will continue to improve human capital, through capacity building and training programmes, while recognising the challenges presented by skill shortages.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Equatorial Guinea had been selected as host of the Annual Meetings because of its economic potential and because Central Africa could benefit a great deal from regional integration, said Adesina.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe believe that the potential is immense, but the level of integration is not enough,\u00a0\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Regional integration is one of the Bank\u2019s High 5s and is seen as pivotal to boosting Africa\u2019s economic development.<\/p>\n<p>The Bank is committed to accelerating Africa\u2019s integration process. In the last five years the Bank has invested more than $15 billion in the construction of regional infrastructure in energy, transport and ICT. Some of these projects include a $93.8 million loan for the long-awaited Trans-Gambia bridge linking the Gambia and Senegal, resulting in a 50% cut in freight costs and improved transport, health and education services for 900,000 local people.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the morning at a media breakfast, Adesina underscored the importance of regional integration in Africa.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIf we get our integration right, Africa will be more competitive, will be able to create a massive amount of jobs and, more importantly, Africa can develop in dignity and confidence,\u201d Adesina said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Annual Meetings will be an opportunity for experts, governments, businesses, civil society, think tanks and academia to share their candid assessments on regional integration efforts and dialogue on critical issues concerning Africa\u2019s development.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"ctx-article-root\"\/>  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a style=\"display:none\" rel=\"follow\" href=\"http:\/\/megatheme.ir\/\" title=\"\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633\">\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina has said that Africa can develop with dignity and confidence if it properly ensures integration. He said this in an interview with the press at 2019 Annual Meetings, due to open Tuesday in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The theme of this year\u2019s meetings is \u2018Regional Integration for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":634169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-634167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Africa\u2019s regional integration gains momentum at 54th AfDB meeting in Malabo - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/11\/africas-regional-integration-gains-momentum-at-54th-afdb-meeting-in-malabo\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Africa\u2019s regional integration gains momentum at 54th AfDB meeting in Malabo - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina has said that Africa can develop with dignity and confidence if it properly ensures integration. 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