African Development Bank Group annual meetings

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[00:00:00]Well, certainly plenty of discussions here in Brazzaville. It's all about really integrating Africa to make sure that Africa is well powered. And a very central theme is around mobilization of resources for Africa's development in a very fragmented world. So now let's get some perspective from Southern Africa.

[00:00:19]Representing the region is the executive secretary, Mr. Makhosse. We've we've seen a very important session around integration in Africa, a very key forum about scaling up the finances for making sure that Africa is able to meet these targets. Let's hear now from Southern Africa some of the priorities. I mean, if you talk about energy, if you talk about roads, and just broadly the infrastructure.

[00:00:45]>> Thank you very much. Yes, indeed uh uh the African Development Bank meetings they had uh provided a platform for engaging on uh resource mobilization. This is an African bank. I think first to start with the drive of the president himself, the new president uh Sid Allah Ta.

[00:01:08]He focused on uh process called uh uh NAFAD, where he's looking for African financing African development. And he's really refocusing the bank to Africa and for African uh development specifically, particularly funding, and coming up with alternative ways of funding, where to look for these funds. I think generally we've looked for funds elsewhere, outside of the continent, little realizing that we actually are sitting with huge amounts of funds and huge amounts of uh resources in the continent, and particularly for the SADC region. If you talk pension funds, if you talk insurance funds, private equity funders, and so we've got majority of them sitting in our continent. And guess where they even invest these monies? They invest these money outside of the continent because they don't have enough assets that can be able to mop up and absorb this. Now it comes to the priorities of what Africa wants to do.

[00:02:09]For Africa to integrate, we need infrastructure. We need roads, we need rail, we need ports, we need airports and one stop border posts and so forth.

[00:02:18]So that is capital intensive. But who can fund it? It's ourselves. We can fund it. We can truly work with the private sector to be able to do that. So these are the main conversations around here.

[00:02:30]For SADC, it started off with our retreat in South Africa in Skukuza where we said we need to focus on our own resources and therefore domestic resource mobilization is a core and a key driver which the new president is looking at and it actually sits well with all member states. And for the SADC region, certain we've started the conversation. We now need to look within and it's easier and it's quicker and the the the the What do you call it? The risk the the way of accessing those funds is much much easier.

[00:03:02]The procedures and processes compared to the traditional ones of the IMF and the World Bank and others very very stringent measures. So we can be able to use our own resources to be able to do that and work with our own capital markets and our own financial resource experts to be able to do that.

[00:03:21]>> Okay. And just once again say while we have you, undoubtedly this is a very tough environment globally. I mean we look at what's happening in the Gulf where the energy prices affecting so many countries. But another key issue around trade in the continent where we you really want to have good infrastructure so that we can see the goods really moving. Essentially just implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area. What could be the role of SADC? I mean given the fact that when you look at the level of industrialization, you have quite a number of countries in the SADC who are doing very well in this regard.

[00:03:57]>> Certainly, I think SADC, if you must know, is one of the eight recognized blocks of the African Union. So, they are called the building blocks for a good reason.

[00:04:08]You implement through regions. You don't implement on a global scale at the continental level. So, Africa continental free trade area agreement requires the RECs or the regions to be actually delivering on that. And that's why for us it's important. So, industrialization is critical. We've made a decision in the SADC region, and I believe the rest of Africa now they are realizing that industrialization is really our next chapter for the next 50 years. That's how we create sustainable jobs. But we are no longer exporting jobs. We are now going to be exporting finished products. So, we've now made a decision, and it's no longer an issue of talk, but we are actually going to do that. That requires resources. That also requires when the goods are finished, they must actually be traded.

[00:04:54]Then how do we trade? Issue of removing barriers. We need to remove non-tariff barriers, which are the main issues.

[00:05:03]Border posts must become efficient.

[00:05:05]Therefore, effective management of our of our borders, customs, immigration, and all those other things to enable traders, to enable business to be able to move around freely and easily. Even movement of people becomes a critical aspect for for us. So, industrialization is key, but industrialization behind it, you need infrastructure. You need energy to drive that industrialization. You need the roads, as I've said, so that they can be able to to trade. Still, we need funding. Funding has to come from our domestic resources for us to be able to do that.

[00:05:56]>> Mhm.