JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (ADV) – The President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina met with His Excellency Andrei Rajoelina, President of Madagascar and His Majesty Letsie III, King of Lesotho at the sidelines of the just ended 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union.
AfDB revealed that the discussions with President Andrei Rajoelina of Madagascar focused on issues relating to energy, infrastructure, job creation, agriculture and the Bank’s support to the country’s drive to accelerate development.
Adesina also commended Rajoelina for his recent election and vision for his country.
Rajoelina was quoted saying, “there is renewed hope from the people of Madagascar and the international community in general and for this reason we would like the African Development Bank to be the country’s first development partner,” he said.
Rajoelina also called for continued Bank’s support, saying, “our objective is to double the energy production capacity in five years. The country has great potential,” he added.
According to reports, Adesina gave assurances that the Bank will continue to support Madagascar and extended an invitation to Rajoelina to attend the 2019 Africa Investment Forum scheduled for November in Johannesburg.
He further encouraged the country to develop a solid pipeline of bankable projects to create investors’ appetite during the forum.
On discussions with His Majesty Letsie III, King of Lesotho, both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to push for increased investment in “gray matter” infrastructure which is critical to overcoming Africa’s nutrition challenges.
The bilateral meetings were part of Adesina’s agenda during the 32nd ordinary session of the 2019 AU summit.
© Bur-JHB – M.C– African Daily Voice (ADV) – Follow us on Twitter : @ADVinfo_eng
