African Development Bank (AfDB) in its continued support to the development of a sound policy environment in Nigeria has valued the worth of 46 projects in its portfolio to be $3.9 billion.
At the re-validation of its mid-term review strategy, the AfDB also underscored the importance of deepening policy dialogue so as to enable it improve the quality of its portfolio.
In a communiqué issued after its CSP medium-term review workshop, which was conducted on April 12, 2016 with various stakeholders to validate the findings of the medium-term review, Ousmane Dore, AfDB country director, harped on the importance of investing in critical infrastructure to promote the development of the real sector of the economy.
Participants at the workshop also concurred with the recommendations of the MTR findings that the bank continues to support the development of a sound policy environment, as well as investing in critical infrastructure to promote the development of the real sector of the economy.
Participants also acknowledged the importance of adjusting the CSP to respond to the new development priorities of the country in particular, targeted social protection programmes aimed at addressing the increased fragility and vulnerability particularly in the North East.
As stated in the communiqué, project implementation issues were also discussed at length just as the challenges in project implementation due to signature delays, lack of counterpart funding, and protracted process of setting up project management teams were also discussed.
They also agreed unanimously that there was need on the part of the Federal Government to address the bottlenecks hindering project implementation.
In turn, they called on the bank to adopt more flexible and faster procedures in addition to continued sensitisation of MDAs on its rules and regulations.
Development partners as a whole were urged to improve donor coordination and harmonisation through co-financing arrangements and streamlining of procurement processes.
Sharing the findings of the mid-term review in a presentation, Lead Economist Barbara Barungi emphasised that the findings were arrived at after wide consultation, the MTR also took stock of performance of the strategy to date and aimed at building up a pipeline of new projects for the remaining period of the strategy.
In her words, “the bank will have to find a way to respond to the social sector priorities of the new government while ensuring alignment with the High-5 priorities of the bank’s new leadership.”
Appreciating the bank’s commitment to sustained development on the continent, the Deputy Director IERD, Federal Ministry of Finance Stella Maduka called upon the bank to “think big for Nigeria in particular and Africa in General, and deliver big for Nigeria and Africa in General”.
Excerpts from the review include fine-tuning the strategy to address emerging challenges and issues of fragility and vulnerability to ensure that bank programmes contribute to building resilience.
KEHINDE ABDULSALAM
