Uhuru to open Africa50 meeting in Nairobi

President Uhuru Kenyatta and African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina will grace Africa50’s third General Shareholders Meeting to be held in Nairobi on July 19.

The Africa50 pan-African infrastructure fund includes governments and banks. Kenya is one of the 25 African shareholder governments. AfDB is a founding bank of the fund. The multilateral development finance institution has 80 member countries and is headquartered in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Hosting the meeting in Nairobi builds on Kenya’s profile as one of the countries with the most impressive infrastructure development track records in the region. President Kenyatta will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the meeting. He was feted earlier in May by the AfDB for his personal leadership in the transformation of the road network in Kenya.

Dr. Adesina on the other hand is expected to give a keynote address at the meeting on the critical role that Africa50 is playing to bridge the continent’s infrastructure funding gap, estimated at US$68-108 billion annually.

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Africa50 CEO, Alain Ebobisse, will also be present at the meeting to provide operational and strategic updates on fundraising and capital increase activities. This will include an overview of the fund’s growing investment pipeline as well as to announce new shareholder countries.

“This is a l******k event. More than ever, Africa50 is in a position to deliver its mandate. In just two years of operation, Africa50 has brought together key players from Africa’s public and private sectors and the broader pan-African and international development finance community. The General Shareholders Meeting will be an occasion to provide an account of progress made in our strategic agenda and further consolidate our shared vision and commitment to accelerating infrastructure development in Africa,” said Mr. Ebobisse.

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The Fund’s CEO and President Kenyatta held talks in March this year where they discussed how Africa50 can act as an enabler to the Big Four Agenda. Africa50 is also keen on participating in the improvement of Kenyan airports, especially JKIA.