The 26th African Union Summit was an opportunity for African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina to share his vision for the Bank and the continent in the coming years. 

AfDB’s overarching goal for its participation in the 26th AU Summit, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from January 21-31, 2016, on the theme “African Year of Human Rights with particular focus on Women Rights”, was to position the Bank as a key player by leveraging resources to support the African countries in the implementation of Agenda 2063.

The AfDB President also sought to broaden the dialogue on the Bank’s new corporate priorities, “the High Fives” – to Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve quality of life for the people of Africa – and to discuss the New Deal on Energy for Africa, which was launched recently in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum Annual Meetings.

The New Deal on Energy for Africa is a transformative partnership-driven effort with an aspirational goal of achieving universal access to energy in Africa by 2025. To drive and achieve this goal, the African Development Bank is working with governments, private sector, bilateral and multilateral energy sector initiatives to develop a Transformative Partnership on Energy for Africa – a platform for public-private partnerships for innovative financing in Africa’s energy sector.

The 34th Session of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee on January 29 provided an opportunity for the Bank President to reaffirm AfDB’s support for NEPAD in the implementation of the African Union Commission’s Agenda 2063 and the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).

Agenda 2063 is a strategic framework for the socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next 50 years. It builds on, and seeks to accelerate the implementation of past and existing continental initiatives for growth and sustainable development.

Each year, the African Union Summits bring together stakeholders to discuss emerging issues that are of relevance to Africa’s economic development. The 26th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of States officially opened on January 30. The AU Summit also included a special luncheon of Heads of State and Government to honour the collective effort of solidarity to fight back Ebola through the deployment of health workers under the African Union Ebola Outbreak support mission in West Africa (ASEOWA).