By Kelechi Deca
As someone who has attended over 25 annual general meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB), I would say the 2025 meetings was clearly underwhelming in all respects. First delegates and participants had a more restrictive space as only the lobby of the Sofitel Hotel Ivoire had thousands of people jam-packed bumping into one another for lack of space. Add to that, “seat colonisation’ was rife as people used bags to hold seating spaces for their friends.
Then refreshments were scarce as they appeared rationed unlike what obtains during such gatherings, at least coffee, teas and ‘small chops’ are always available. In Abidjan, food was unavailable, and the few times it was offered, it has “invitation only” thus keeping lots of participants out who were forced to buy from the expensive hotel Sofitel restaurant. While we didn’t go there to eat and drink, eating and drinking helps keep the brain oxygenated to engage in meaningful discourses.
Of all the events at the meetings, one stood out for me, and that was the high-level Presidential Dialogue which was aimed at outlining the next phase of the continent’s development. The panel featured an array of African leaders such as the Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, President Azali Assoumani of the Union of Comoros, Tanzania’s Vice President Philip Mpango, and Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine. They shared national progress stories and proposed strategies to deepen intra-African trade, strengthen energy and transport systems, and scale up domestic resource mobilization – key areas targeted to ensure Africa fulfills its economic potential.
The Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara had in his opening remarks reiterated the need for Africa to fund its own future. A clear shot at the pervading defunding race going on globally. In his words, “We can’t keep waiting for outsiders. Our roads, schools, and jobs should be built with our own capital. It’s time to invest in ourselves,” he told the gathering of heads of state and government, ministers, heads of development finance institutions, and civil society representatives.
President Mahama of Ghana spoke about his country’s significant debt restructuring progress, forecasting a debt-to-GDP ratio of 55-58 percent by year-end – well ahead of schedule. It could be recalled that Mahama won elections in December 2024 on a platform of economic reform, and he used the opportunity to highlight Ghana’s growing role as a trade hub, with upgraded ports serving as redistribution centers across West and Central Africa. “We’ve transitioned into a transactional world, which signals to Africa that we need to pull ourselves out by our bootstraps,” he said while underscoring the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
President Assoumani spoke about the vital role of the Comorian diaspora, whose remittances exceed official development assistance and account for approximately 20 percent of the country’s GDP. He outlined plans to streamline investment channels from the diaspora, which numbers 350,000 people compared to an 800,000-strong domestic population. “Our diaspora represents about 50 percent of our population, and they are full patriots at heart. Wherever they are, they think about their country,” he said and unveiled new initiatives to streamline investment channels from overseas.
Tanzania’s Mpango used the opportunity to elucidate on a $12.9 billion national energy compact, anchored by a completed 2,115-megawatt hydropower plant and supported by plans to develop 57 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. To do this, they raised domestic finance with innovative models. “Tanzania’s infrastructure bond programs and innovative use of pension funds for development projects are cited as models for sustainable domestic financing,” he said.
Niger was a center of certain type of attraction being that it is one of the countries that broke away from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with Mali and Burkina Faso to establish the Association of Sahel States, so many were eager to hear from the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister Zeine who incidentally was a former staff of the African Development Bank (AfDB) announced the country had achieved food self-sufficiency for the first time in 60 years.
“Energy import dependence has dropped from 70 percent to under 30 percent, and oil production is forecast to reach 30 million barrels in 2025,” he said, adding that these developments underpin projected GDP growth of 7.4 percent. “The government has pledged to allocate revenues toward poverty reduction and sustainable development.”
However, it was evident that on the issue of regional integration, that there is not much to cheer about, and this signposts why it was the dominant theme throughout the session. While the leaders who gathered there cited major infrastructure initiatives – from the Trans-Saharan Highway to cross-border power grids – as essential for boosting trade and connectivity, not much was on ground to back up what has been achieved so far. This was against the backdrop that it was same week that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) celebrated its 50th anniversary in Lagos.
Akinwumi Adesina who is on his way out as the Bank’s president delivered an emotional farewell speech, offering an optimistic reflection on his decade-long leadership of the Bank while emphasizing the urgent need for the continent to become self-reliant. Speaking, he described the Bank’s impact across the continent, including $91 billion in support, 565 million lives improved, and transformational investments in infrastructure, food systems, energy, and financial inclusion. He urged African nations to harness their own capital–natural, financial, and human — to drive a new era of self-reliant development.
But after all said and done
the call for African leadership to do more is becoming shriller and more persistent because results on ground don’t match the statistics being bandied around. There is need for Africa to seek Africa’s solutions to Africa’s problems. Solutions that is as tangible as they are impactful.
Kelechi Deca, a journalist and public affairs analyst writes from Lagos
