Africa has entered a decisive era where vision must become tangible and investable reality. Agenda 2063 sets a long-term horizon for prosperity, integration, and resilience, while national development plans increasingly align with the Sustainable Development Goals and the continent's drive to deepen value chains. The challenge is no longer drafting plans but executing them - converting national ambitions into finance-ready pipelines and projects that generate jobs, build industry, and deliver essential services where people live.
The African Development Bank AfDB stands at the centre of this shift from rhetoric to results. In May 2025, shareholders elected Dr. Sidi Ould Tah as the ninth President with a clear mandate to accelerate delivery. In his inaugural address on 1 September 2025, he outlined four priorities: listening carefully to member states, fast-tracking reforms, deepening partnerships, and turning plans into operational assets. These priorities now guide the Bank's strategy, supported by a strengthened capital base that includes a general callable capital increase raising authorised capital to about U318 billion and a 750 million sustainable hybrid capital instrument expanding lending capacity.
Together with other multilateral development banks MDBs, BADEA has played an equally vital role in sustaining this momentum. Coordination with other MDBs further expands the pool of concessional and blended resources available to African governments and the private sector, ensuring that ambitious strategies translate into bankable projects and measurable impact on the ground.