AfDB receives sixth instalment of Japanese private sector assistance loan

10 Sep 2015
Financial Nigeria

Summary

The $300 million loan will be used to support private sector operations in Africa.

Akinwumi Adesina, President of African Development Bank

African Development Bank (AfDB) yesterday signed a bilateral agreement under the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance (EPSA) for Africa with the Government of Japan. The latest agreement is the sixth private sector assistance loan worth $300 million, which will be used to support private sector operations in Africa.


The signing ceremony for the agreement was held at AfDB headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. In attendance were AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina; AfDB Finance Vice-President, Charles Boamah; Japanese Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, Hiroshi Kawamura, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Vice-President in charge of Africa, Hiroshi Kato.


Mr. Adesina, while thanking the Government of Japan, JICA, and the people of Japan for the support to the EPSA Initiative and the loan $300 million, said, “Japan is a very strategic partner of the AfDB and a major trading partner for Africa. Your support in promoting private sector growth, quality infrastructure and co-financing operations, has allowed the Bank to grow its private sector portfolio ten-fold.”


“Let me assure you that you will see the impacts on the ground, not just on the balance sheet of the Bank. As a Bank, we must and will redouble our efforts to deliver faster. And we will disburse approved funds faster,” Mr. Akinwumi Adesina reassured the Japanese contingent and those in those in attendance.  


Ambassador Kawamura congratulated the President on his successful inauguration and extended his appreciation for the past efforts of the Bank, while also expressing his wish for further deepening the partnership between Japan and the Bank.


The first Private Sector Assistance Loan from JICA to the AfDB was signed in 2007 for $100 million. This sixth loan brings the grand total to $1.2 billion. The Private Sector Assistance Loans are one of three components comprising the EPSA Initiative, the other two being the Accelerated Co-financing Facility (ACFA) for public sector co-financing with JICA, and the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA), a multi-donor thematic trust fund administered by the AfDB.


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