Newport Beach, CA – May 25, 2022 — On Africa Day 2022, at the time of change and hope, Ron Nechemia, the President of the Global Bank Group, states the unswerving commitment of Global Bank to support peace and stability, eradicate poverty and initiate sustainable economic growth throughout Africa. Global Bank stands proudly with Africans as we work to deliver on the promise of a prosperous and peaceful Africa for all.
Africa Day, which marks the founding of the Organization of African Unity in 1963, now known as the African Union, provides an annual opportunity to reflect on the challenges and achievements of the Continent and peoples of Africa. This year’s celebration of Africa Day has particular significance as it marks the launch of the Global Bank Group Compact with Africa.
Ron Nechemia, the President of the Global Bank Group, said that the fifty-ninth anniversary of Africa Day provided an occasion to intensify the search for pragmatic solutions to ongoing and long-lasting problems like the conflict and abuses in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile, the spread of the COVID 19 pandemic and its devastating impact on African economies, climate change, unresolved conflicts, and a severe food crisis.
The Global Bank Compact with Africa
The Global Bank Compact with Africa initiative is a long-term project which is open to the participation of all African countries that are interested in improving their frameworks for private-sector investments on a durable, sustainable basis.
The core element of the Global Bank Compact with Africa consists of specially tailored investment partnerships, or “compacts”, with interested African countries. The aim is to improve conditions for public and private-sector infrastructure and other sustainable development-related investments in Africa, which is so vital to sustainable economic development. The main stakeholders are, first and foremost, the African countries themselves, together with Global Bank. Global Bank will negotiate and implement country-specific investments and programmes, which can also be combined with additional contributions from the international financial institutions, multilateral development banks and individual G20 partners. There is an open invitation to others.
“The Global Bank will continue to assist the African people as they build on this progress,” said Ron Nechemia, President of Global Bank. “A new Global Bank Development Council, the Compact with Africa, the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, and the Global Bank Africa Development Council will improve the Bank’s ability to respond to Africa’s agenda.”
African countries to take part in the Global Bank Group Compact with Africa.
Specifically, the Global Bank Compact with Africa will, for example, include support from the Global Bank Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (GBIPPF) for the preparation of ‘bankable’ climate-smart infrastructure projects. These projects focus primarily on African countries’ energy, transport, telecommunications, and urban infrastructure sectors, thus encouraging follow-on investment. The ultimate aim of the Global Bank Compact with Africa is to enhance national and regional economic development and integration. This enhancement is accomplished through the increased implementation of priority infrastructure projects in countries participating in the Global Bank Compact with Africa and regional projects, including cross-border regional integration infrastructure projects and national projects with significant regional impact, through a variety of financial instruments.
