May 28, 2022

The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it is designing youth entrepreneurship investment banks in 13 African countries to create wealth in the continent.

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the AfDB Group, said this at a news conference to conclude the Bank’s 2022 Annual Meetings in Accra, Ghana.

Adesina said the move, to be finalised by June, would help youths get capital and create wealth for the younger generation for the development of the continent.

“We are designing renewed financial institutions that will invest into the business of the youths and Ghana is one of the benefitting countries.

“We have 13 countries and we expect to finish that design by the end of June.

“It will create youths based wealth for the continent,” he said.

On post-harvest losses, Adesina said the Bank had invested one billion dollars on special agro industrial processing zones to curb food losses.

He listed some countries to benefit to include Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritius and Mozambique, among others.

“These are the new investments the bank is making to be close to the areas that the farmers are producing enabled with water, infrastructure, logistics so that the food and agriculture processing companies can be located close to the zones.

“The processing companies in most countries are not located in the rural areas because there are no infrastructure in the rural areas.

“What we are trying to do with the processing zones is to reduce the cost of doing business for the food and agriculture companies, so that they can offtake from the farmers and process them there.

“We loose too much of our food and the consequence is that we start complaining about carbon emissions, producing and not having any impact and that affects the prices of food that eventually gets to the market.

“Post-harvest losses is what I can describe as pouring water into a bucket that has holes, you have to stop the leakage but in developed countries, post-harvest losses is as a result of too much food, you can’t eat it, you throw it away but in Africa, it is not like that,” he said.

Egypt will host the next Annual Meetings of the Bank.

Mr. Tarel Amer, the Governor, Central Bank of Arab Republic of Egypt, was appointed the new Chairperson of the AfDB Board of Governors. (NAN)