The President of African Development Bank (AfDB) says Africa is now a focus of the world right now as the growth and investment frontier.
The AfDB President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina said this during a public presentation of African Economic Outlook 2020 in Abidjan on Thursday.
Adesina stated that the world giant countries had seen opportunities that Africa offered which was the reason they had now turned to the continent.
“Just last week, I was in London for the UK-Africa Summit. There has been China-Africa Summit, Japan-Africa Summit, India-Africa Summit, Korea-Africa Summit, Russia-Africa Summit, US-Africa Summit and several others.
“What do all these countries see? They see opportunities that Africa offers.
“With a population of 1.2 billion people that is expected to rise to 2.5 billion by 2050, a rising middle class, rapid urbanization – and a labour work force that will rise from 705 million today to well over 1 billion in the next 10 years.
“Africa offers huge market and investment opportunities. The Africa Continental Free Trade Area makes Africa a market worth 3.3 trillion dollars. African economies are growing well, higher than the global average” he explained.
The AfDB president said African Economic Outlook was the flagship publication of the bank that projected economic growth trends on the continent.
He said AfDB also discussed policy approaches that could be used to improve economic growth and development.
He added that their approach must be domestic driven because thhere was nothing like local knowledge.
“The AfDB speaks authoritatively on Africa, through its African Economic Outlook, because of its unparalleled local knowledge and close partnerships with governments.
“Simply put, the Bank is the development partner of choice for African governments” he added.
