The outgoing President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, has pledged to continue to make efforts to unlock capital flows to Africa even after the expiration of his term on September 1.
According to a statement from AfDB, on Tuesday, Adesina said this while delivering a keynote address at the Standard Chartered Africa Summit in Lagos.
In his keynote speech titled ‘Tilting Global Capital for Unlocking Investment Opportunities in Africa’, Adesina said, “Together, let us tilt global capital to unlock Africa’s assets. As I step into a new future, you can be sure this will be my focus! For I will always have Africa in my heart and my sight.”
Adesina kicked off by alluding to his optimism about Africa’s prospects: “When I was approached to consider delivering the keynote speech, I did not hesitate. How can someone known as ‘Africa’s Optimist in Chief’ not accept to speak on Africa?”
Highlighting the African Development Bank’s focus on bold financial innovation in the last decade, Adesina declared, “The African Development Bank is not just waiting for more capital; we are innovating to do more with the capital we have. Through our balance sheet optimisation initiatives, we are stretching every dollar of risk capital further. Our ambition is threefold: free up capital, crowd in investors and amplify development impact.”
He outlined several ambitious and innovative financing solutions pioneered by the African Development Bank, supported by its AAA rating, which it has maintained over the last decade.
Adesina went on to praise Standard Chartered Bank’s successful partnership with the African Development Bank, which notably delivered a partial credit guarantee for Ivory Coast in 2023, a deal that won ‘Sovereign Syndicated Loan Deal of the Year’ at the 2025 Bonds, Loans & ESG Capital Markets Africa Awards in Cape Town, South Africa, in April.
“The Standard Chartered Bank participated as the sole lender in the 2023 Ivory Coast’s sustainable loan partial credit guarantee transaction. The African Development Bank was able to unlock €533m from the Standard Chartered Bank in support of the country’s financing needs,” he said.
He also congratulated Standard Chartered on being named Best Transaction Bank at the Asset Triple A Treasurise Awards in Hong Kong.
“Your record-breaking 127 accolades reflect an exceptionally strong track record of excellence in banking and finance globally,” he noted.
Adesina urged global financial institutions to partner more strategically with the African Development Bank and other multilateral development banks to scale up capital flows to Africa.
He called for greater use of risk mitigation and credit enhancement instruments, mainstreaming of best practices in environmental, social and governance and increased collaboration to scale up local currency financing solutions.
The African Development Bank’s current active portfolio in Nigeria is the largest in the Bank, valued at $5.1bn and comprising 52 operations, equally distributed between the public and private sectors, with 26 projects each. National operations account for 84 per cent of the portfolio, while multinational operations constitute the balance of 16 per cent.
The Bank Group is set to establish a Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank in Nigeria as part of a pan-African portfolio designed to create and finance entrepreneurship opportunities for young Africans.
