The Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) Prof Emmanuel Nnadozie is in Kigali, Rwanda to attend the African Development Bank (AfDB) 50th anniversary and annual meetings which began on Monday, May 19 to 23.
Prof Nnadozie led the ACBF delegation to the event dubbed ‘AfDB at 50’ which opened Monday in Kigali with over 3, 500 delegates from all over the world.
Speaking on arrival in the Rwandan capital, Prof Nnadozie, who was invited by the bank’s President Dr Donald Kaberuka, said that ACBF was privileged to be part of the anniversary activities since AfDB is one of the founding and key partners of the foundation.
“We do a lot of work together with AfDB, some of which will be happening here during this annual meeting, so this gives us an opportunity to demonstrate and consolidate what we are doing together and even discuss more on what we are engaging on in future,” Prof Nnadozie said.
The Executive Secretary also highlighted that the meeting in Kigali will serve as an opportunity to meet and hold discussions with the ACBF Governors (Ministers of Finance) on the upcoming Board of Governors meeting to be held in Dakar, Senegal on June 26 and 27.
“We will be focussing on building capacity for domestic resource mobilisation. This has become a very important issue for Africa, including building capacity to fight illicit financial flows. I will interact with as many ministers as possible on this issue,” he added.
During the meetings, Prof Nnadozie will discuss with the Ministers on capacity building issues in their respective countries and how these countries can continue to support ACBF by making their contributions.
He was also invited to speak on a range of issues relating to capacity building on the continent as well as share ACBF’s success stories and achievements.
Apart from meeting Finance and Budget Ministers, Prof Nnadozie will also hold talks with representatives of the World Bank and also take stock of ACBF work in Rwanda.
A renowned global Economist, Prof Nnadozie pointed out that the meeting in Kigali should serve as an opportunity for the continent to address some of the key issues the continent is still grappling with and devise strategies to move Africa forward.
“The meeting in Kigali provides us with a platform to address key development challenges that the continent is faced with. It also provides an opportunity to have many high-ranking people in one place to deal with issues at the same time,”
“For example the issue of South Sudan is on the table. There has been an on-going discussion in Addis Ababa but my view is that this meeting gives us an opportunity to continue discussing the problem because there are a lot of economic and financial dimensions to the issue in South Sudan,” the Executive Secretary said.
During the 5-day meeting, Prof Nnadozie will take an opportunity to meet high ranking government officials including the Rwandan Minister of Finance Amb Claver Gatete, to discuss further cooperation between Rwanda and ACBF.
He will also tour key programmes funded by ACBF in Rwanda including the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR), the National Capacity Building Secretariat (NCBS) and the Rwanda Private Sector Federation (PSF).
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About the African Capacity Building Foundation
Established in 1991, ACBF is the outcome of collaboration between African governments and the international donor community. Its mission is to build sustainable human and institutional capacity for sustainable growth and poverty reduction in Africa. The ultimate goal is to improve the lives and prospects of people throughout the African continent. ACBF’s approach to capacity development is largely demand-driven, emphasizing on needs assessments, stakeholder ownership of interventions, project and programme sustainability and synergy of interventions with other development funding institutions. For further information go to: www.acbf-pact.org
