The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Thursday in Abuja put the value of its 27 ongoing projects in Nigeria at 1.4 billion dollars.
The bank’s Resident Representative in Nigeria, Mr Osumane Dore, gave the figure at a press briefing to highlight the bank's achievements in the country.
Dore said that the public sector had 15 ongoing projects in the areas of agriculture, social sector, regional operations and infrastructure valued at 754 million dollars.
The private sector, he added had a total portfolio of 631 million dollars on 12 ongoing projects.
In 2012, he said that the bank, which has its headquarters in Tunis, approved 99 million dollars for urban water supply and sanitation projects in Zaria in Kaduna State.
“The bank also approved 34 million dollars for capacity building in public-private partnership in infrastructure.
“Both projects are still awaiting approval from the Federal Executive Council and the Nigeria parliament,’’ he said.
The representative named proposed projects in the long term to include Abuja urban transport, Port Harcourt urban water supply and sanitation and Lagos cable car.
He said, “In Nigeria, one of the issues that the bank wants to address is the over emphasis on the oil sector.
“Thus the bank has been thinking about how to generate income domestically.
“We are trying to find how we can bring the contribution of the non-oil revenue to some respectable level.
“We are also doing a flagship study on the infrastructure action plan on the Vision 2020.
“We want to look at the underlying constraint of the infrastructure like water, transport, electricity and others.
“This kind of analysis can help us to come up with an action plan that can help decision makers.''???
Earlier, Ms Cecilia Akintomide, the bank's Secretary-General, told reporters via a teleconference in Tunis that preparation for the 47th annual meeting in Arusha, Tanzania was on course.
She said that the meeting, which will hold from May 28 to June 1, will have the “most dialogue and most reflection’’ on Africa’s growth economy and its place in emerging global landscape.
The conference’s theme is “Africa and the Emerging Global Landscape: Challenges and Opportunities.''
She said that “2012 is the last year of our Medium Term Strategy; so, we are looking ahead on what is going to chart our operations for the future.
“What is going to be special for Africa of the future? And how should the bank accompany that Africa of the future to realise our development vision?’’.
Akintomide said the financial statements and performance of the AfDB would also be on the agenda during the meeting expected to attract more than 2,500 participants.
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