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The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, claims a leading role in
the electrification of Africa.
“Short in palaver, but rich in agreements” (“short on talk, but heavy on deals”). This is the program
ambitions set by the second edition of the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) organized in Johannesburg,
from November 11 to 13, under the aegis of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Its president, the Nigerian Akinwumi Adesina, has just obtained the support of its 80 shareholder States for
doubling the bank's "authorized capital" from $93 billion to $208 billion by 2030. In an interview
Les Echos, he explains how these new resources should be used to help Africa
achieve a "giant leap".
“This capital increase is a tremendous vote of confidence from our shareholders. It's here
largest since the creation of the bank in 1964. This will help us to fill the deficit of
infrastructure financing in Africa which is estimated between 65 and 108 billion dollars per year”,
explains Akinwumi Adesina.
As part of its “High Five” program, the AfDB intends to accelerate its investments in the
digital networks, water and sanitation networks, transnational highways and
port infrastructure. "We have a capital of 208 billion dollars but we will be able to
leverage much more from the private sector. »
“The AfDB is already a leader in renewable energy investments. The potentialities
are huge. We will continue to invest. The future of Africa is in renewable energies”, insists
the President of the AfDB.
The emblematic “Desert to Power” project
Among the major projects in preparation, he considers the "Desert to Power" project particularly emblematic.
which aims to provide energy to 250 million people in the 11 countries of the Sahelian strip (from
Senegal to Ethiopia…) by making this region the largest solar production area in the world with
10,000 MW capacity.
“Desert to Power is a project entirely designed and led by the AfDB. I spoke about it at the G7 to the president
Macron. We are working with the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Moroccan agency to
sustainable energy Masen on this project, which represents an investment of 20 billion dollars. There is a
convergence of south-south and north-south interests in favor of this project. Emmanuel Macron, Justin Trudeau and the
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed great enthusiasm for this project. »
For the boss of the AfDB, it is a very complementary project to the program to combat desertification
of the Sahel “Great Green Wall” (8,000 km of green wall), launched in 2013 with the support of the Bank
world. “Unfortunately, people have very little access to electricity in these regions where we have
planted millions of trees. If they are not guaranteed this access, the trees will be cut down and the 'Great Green
wall' could become a 'great coal wall'. The 'Desert to Power' project has a key role to play in
protect this 'green wall'. That's why it has to be done quickly. »

600 million Africans without access to electricity
“In 2019, I cannot accept that 600 million Africans still do not have access to electricity.
We want to guarantee universal access for Africans to electricity. Africa has many
natural sources of energy: solar, hydraulic, wind power… They must be unblocked. We already have
connected 16 million Africans to electricity in the four years since the start of my mandate. » If access
universal access to electricity for the African population by 2030 remains the first priority of the AfDB, the former
Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture cannot forget the agricultural sector. “We have already improved the
agricultural productivity for the benefit of 70 million people in four years. But we still need
develop the value chain for the benefit of local farmers. In the case of cocoa, Côte d'Ivoire and
Ghana now produce 65% of world production. The global market represents 120 billion
of dollars. But Africa, which produces 75% of all cocoa beans, captures only 2% of the income. This is
inadmissible. That is why we have decided to invest $25 billion over ten years in
agricultural transformation. »