By Emmanuel Oloniruha

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has commended outgoing President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Akinwumi Adesina’s efforts to strengthen the bank’s role and provide crucial funding to advance development goals across Africa.

The Spokesman for the Presidency, Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy, said that El-Sisi, at a meeting in Cairo, also wished Adesina success in his future endeavours.

He reaffirmed Egypt’s ongoing support for the AfDB and commitment to cooperating with its next president.

On his part, Adesina commended Egypt’s support and its pivotal role in enhancing the bank’s development efforts across Africa in recent years.

El-Sisi and Adesina also discussed ways to enhance Egypt’s relations with the bank, underscoring the importance of boosting cooperation in various fields, particularly new and renewable energy and infrastructure.

They emphasised the need to strengthen the private sector’s role in development, job creation, ensuring food and water security, improving energy efficiency, developing manufacturing capabilities, and advancing digital transformation.

They also highlighted the necessity of the AfDB’s continuous support for Egypt’s efforts to achieve growth, development and economic reform.

The meeting also discussed implementing various projects under the national platform for the Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE) programme.

NWFE, launched in July 2022, is a national scheme meant to implement the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), a document Egypt recently submitted detailing its commitments to emission targets by 2030.

Adesina, the 8th elected president of the AfDB, was first elected in May 2015 by the Bank’s Board of Governors at its Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.(NAN)