The Hindu
Context
India begins the heavy-lifting needed to transform economic partnerships in Africa
What has happened?
The 52nd Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors (the Bank’s highest decision-making body) of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the 43rd Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund (ADF) officially opened in Ahmedabad, India, on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 with calls for greater cooperation between the Bank and India to help drive Africa’s transformation.
What is AfDB?
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is a regional multilateral development finance institution established to contribute to the economic development and social progress of African countries that are the institution’s Regional Member Countries (RMCs).
Established on:
The AfDB was founded following an agreement signed by member states on _August 14, 1963_, in Khartoum, Sudan, which became effective on September 10, 1964
HQ
The AfDB headquarters is officially in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
The AfDB comprises three entities:
*The African Development Bank (ADB)
*The African Development Fund (ADF)
*The Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF)
Mission of AfDB
AfDB’s mission is to
Help reduce poverty, improve living conditions for Africans and mobilize resources for the continent’s economic and social development
Members
The Bank Group has 80 member countries, comprising 54 regional member countries (RMC) and 26 non-regional member countries (NRMC).
Future cooperation
Maritime cooperation: India is working on a maritime outreach to extend its Sagarmala programme to the southern coastal African countries with ‘blue economies’
Solar connection : India is also building its International Solar Alliance, which Djibouti, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Somalia and Ghana signed on to on the sidelines of the AfDB project
Involving other powers
In its efforts, India has tapped other development partners of Africa, including Japan, which sent a major delegation to the AfDB meeting
It has also turned to the United States, with which it has developed dialogues in fields such as peacekeeping training and agricultural support, to work with African countries
It is significant that during the recent inter-governmental consultations between India and Germany, both countries brought in their Africa experts to discuss possible cooperation in developmental programs in that continent
Conclusion
At a time when China is showcasing its Belt and Road Initiative as the “project of the century” and also bolstering its position as Africa’s largest donor, a coalition of like-minded countries such as the one India is putting together could provide an effective way to ensure more equitable and transparent development aid to Africa.
(This is imp topic related to India Africa relation for IAS /KAS mains GS under IR)
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