AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP

Closing Session of the2013 AfDB AnnualMeetings
Closing Statement
Dr. Donald Kaberuka
President

Event: 2013 AfDB Annual Meetings Closing Session
Marrakesh, Morocco
31 May 2013
Input: Ncube, Akintomide, Ouedraogo, Ben Hammouda

The 49th Assembly in Marrakesh has again confirmed the strong convening powerof the African Development Bank. Beyond our statutory meetings, I believe thediscussions in the Governors’ Dialogue on transformation and the numerous side
events, colloquia, seminars, and so on, have significantly strengthened ourunderstanding of how best the Bank can implement its new long term strategy.
I would like to thank everyone who contributed in one way or another to thisoutcome: Governors, business leaders, civil society and, of course, Bank
management and staff.
I want in particular to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the manner in which you haveconducted these meetings, enabling us to find a meeting of minds even on delicate
issues. In the same spirit, I wish to acknowledge your outgoing bureau.
I extend my warm congratulations to the newly elected Board of Directors andassure them, in advance of management, full support and cooperation.
I take the opportunity to thank the outgoing Board, whose members will leave us
shortly. Thank you for your partnership and friendship.
I would like to express my appreciation and that of senior management and staff
for you expression of support for the Bank’s accomplishments in the past year andto date. Your renewed confidence in the Bank and to me personally goes a longway in encouraging us to deepen our action.
In turn, I would like to restate here our determination to continue to shepherd theBank, to ensure strong finances and well crafted, customised, tailored support tothe needs of each member country. Your call to focus even further on the fragile
states and situations of fragility, especially in its regional context – such as in theSahel, the Horn of Africa and the Mano River – is one which we entirely share.
Many of you have asked the Bank to continue giving appropriate and adequate
attention to countries of North Africa in transition. I can assure you of our strong
dialogue and engagement in that context, especially Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.
I am, in particular, encouraged by your concurrence that, given the challenges in
the global financial markets, our prudent management is the right response.
In our bilateral discussions I have taken especial note of four topics.

2Ten Year Strategy
First, the Ten Year Strategy goes in the right direction. It articulates a direction oftravel which corresponds to what Africa needs and what the Bank is best
positioned to do.
However you have emphasised that sound implementation will be the key. I would
like to assure you that senior management and I fully understand that any strategy
is as good as the people who put it into practice and the systems that deliver it. I
undertake here to carry out all the steps necessary to ensure that every member ofstaff takes full responsibility for this new Strategy. Management will have to lead byexample and I will be enforcing accountability at all levels.
But above all, this strategy of inclusive development will be tested and judged
where it matters most – within countries. I therefore look forward to a reinforced
dialogue with you on the ground, leveraging our expanded presence through ourfield offices.
Sustainability
Second, this Summit acknowledged the progress Africa has made, while pointing
out what has to be done to ensure sustainability. One of the areas of focus forsustainability is sound natural resource management. I understand that you urge
the Bank to deepen its work in this area – to scale up and strengthen its internal
capabilities to provide you with greater support from work related to legal issues, tobest practices.
The debates here on transformation and natural resources have shown a wide
consensus on what has to be done and what the Bank should do. As thecelebrated economist Michael Porter said: natural resources are an inherited
wealth. The secret of sound natural resource management is converting thoseresources into created wealth.
We know what to do. With the vast amounts being found and exploited in almost
every country, Africa has a chance in a generation to turn the inherited wealth intocreated wealth by sound investments in people and human capital. The Bank will
work with you.
Infrastructure financing
Third, the question of the gap in infrastructure financing and the need forinnovation. There was a consensus here that, with Africa’s economies at a turning3

point, the infrastructure deficit is an important binding constraint. It is not the only
constraint, but it is a key obstacle.
Drawing on experience from other countries, we all agree that unless Africancountries can unblock this, at some point the current growth momentum will beinterrupted and will not be sustained.
At the same time, we all concluded that the existing means of financing
infrastructure cannot take Africa to the scale that is needed.
It is time for innovation. It is time for greater mobilization of internal resources. The
idea is that African countries must do more for their own development, in particularinfrastructure.
It is time for better husbandry of natural resources to finance more infrastructure. It
is time to leverage external support, internal savings and capital markets forinfrastructure.
For that reason we are extremely encouraged by the overwhelmingly warm
response to the proposal for this special vehicle for scaling up Infrastructure
finance that is the Africa50 Fund. I deeply appreciate your initial contribution andthoughts on how we can further improve on the structure of this vehicle.
We will, as requested, provide greater details and deepen the work on Africa50
Fund together with the Board of Directors. We understand that this type of financial
engineering in project finance is always complex, but is the right direction. We will
work on this with all the energy, innovation and urgency the matter deserves.
ADF 13
Fourth, ADF 13 replenishment. This Summit has reaffirmed the importance of thework done by the African Development Fund. Its track record is stellar. The resultson the ground speak for themselves. The Fund’s work, in particular in fragilestates, is critical. We are entirely cognizant of the budgetary squeeze in many
donor countries.
As we approach 2015, we can agree that from a strategic viewpoint our aim must
be a stronger ADF, or at the very least, to avoid at all costs a weaker ADF. As
negotiations for the Fund resume in two weeks, the arrival of new members, inparticular African contributors, is a strong signal of ownership and the growing
relevance of the Fund as a force for good. I look forward to our forthcoming
meeting in mid-June.

4Return to Abidjan
The final takeaway is the return of the Bank to Abidjan. With the ratification of theGCC recommendations on the roadmap, the task of safely returning the Bank to its
headquarters will now begin in earnest. In my bilaterals, four key themes havebeen consistent.
First, a rigorous respect of the Roadmap and its triggers.
Second, ensuring at all costs that the exercise will not perturb the operations of theBank or diminish its effectiveness.
Third, good communication, both internally and externally.
Fourth, close collaboration between the Bank and the Governments of Coted’Ivoire and Tunisia.
I give here all the assurances that I personally, the Board and its existing
competent committees, such as CAHR and AUFI, will ensure the Bank respects
those four elements scrupulously. Rest assured, we do fully understand how
complex and delicate the exercise is. There will neither be undue precipitation nor
unnecessary delays which would cause process cost overrun. We have every
confidence that the resilience and the experience this institution has demonstrated
will serve you and us well.
As we prepare to depart Marrakesh, let me again thank each one of you
Governors, the People of this historic and beautiful city, the Government andPeople of the Kingdom of Morocco, and all who made this Assembly’s worksmooth and successful.
Let me wish you safe return to your respective countries and we give you
rendezvous in Kigali, Rwanda, in May 2014.
Thank you.

5