Saudi Gazette Report

NAIROBI — Governor of the African Development Bank (AFDB) Dr. Riyad Al-Khorayef has led the Kingdom’s delegation that participated in the 59th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the AFDB and the 50th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund, which were held during 27-31 May in Nairobi, Kenya.

Kenyan President William Ruto opened the meetings in the presence of a group of African heads of state, finance ministers and central bank governors representing member states, in addition to representatives of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, the academic sector, non-profit organizations, civil society, and the private sector.

During the meetings, Alkhorayef reviewed the Saudi government’s support for African countries, whether bilaterally or through regional and international organizations such as the African Development Bank.

He also referred to some of the initiatives launched by Saudi Arabia in areas such as: investing in human capital, empowering youth, developing infrastructure, and dealing with change. He also cited climate change initiatives such as the “Green Saudi Arabia” and “Green Middle East”.

Alkhorayef touched on the initiative announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during the Saudi-African summit, which includes Saudi Arabia financing development projects on the African continent with an amount of $5 billion by 2030.

The meetings highlighted many important issues for the African continent and the world at large, most notably: the economic diversification efforts of the African continent, developing the global financial structure, providing investment opportunities to drive development, and addressing the challenges of climate change and insecurity.

The annual meetings contributed to the exchange of experiences between the bank’s governors, in addition to discussing the challenges of financing the private sector and investments that support sustainable development on the African continent.