The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said security expenditures are rapidly displacing development expenditures in the ECOWAS sub-region because of increased levels of insecurity.
Dr Adeshina, who spoke at the 56th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority Heads of State and Government, said he was already discussing with International Monetary Fund (IMF) on how they could come up with new financing instruments to address the exogenous security-related shocks.
He said while opportunities abound in the region, growth and future prosperity were under multiple threats because of a number of countries especially Niger, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Nigeria now spend a high share of their public budgets on security expenditures.
“This cannot continue. It’s time for bold approaches to secure the sub-region. We must address security-investment linkages, as investments will not go into places that are insecure.
“I applaud the Heads of State and Governments for their leadership to mobilize $1 billion to ensure the region’s security. When leaders decide things happen. The African Development Bank will be ready to help ECOWAS on this fund, especially to help structure how this fund can be securitized. With securitization it will be possible to leverage several times more resources from the capital market, through the launch of an ‘ECOWAS security investment bond,” he also said.
The AfDB president promised to accelerate Africa’s development and integration by unlocking the full potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Dr Adeshina, who was invited to the ECOWAS Summit by the President of the commission, Jean Claude Brou, expressed delight with the partnership between the African Development Bank and the ECOWAS Commission.
He said the AfDB’s portfolio investments in the ECOWAS region total $20 billion with a major focus on energy and transport infrastructure, private sector, regional financial market integration, water, and sanitation.
Dr Adeshina said, “Such was the case in Nigeria where the Bank helped to provide $600 million of budget support that helped it get out of recession, a tough time for Nigeria. The Bank also provided $500 million to establish the Development Bank of Nigeria. Last week, we provided $225 million to support social investments in Côte d’Ivoire, just as we provided $230 million for support towards stabilizing livelihoods in the northeast of Nigeria.”
