Skip to main content

AfDB launches 50th anniversary celebrations in Ghana



The Ghana Country Office of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched the celebration of the Bank’s 50th Anniversary, with an open day event at its premises in Ridge, Accra.
The Golden Jubilee celebrations which are taking place in all AfDB offices across the continent and in Kigali during the 2014 Annual Meetings from 19th -23rd May, will culminate in a main celebration in November 2014 at the Banks Headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
The launch event was attended by His Excellency Vice President of the Republic, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur; several ministers of state including, Hon Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Amidu Suleimani and Hon. Minister of Agriculture, Kofi Humado,  and  other  senior Government officials.
In addition, more than 150 people including ambassadors and heads of international organizations accredited to Ghana, private sector, civil society representatives were present. 
Programme management staff from ongoing and past bank funded projects, former bank staff including retired members as well as staff from the Ghana field office also participated in the event.
The open day launch event included a presentation of a video on the African Development Bank’s 50 year-journey on the continent, statements on the Banks role in Africa’s development from historical and future perspectives by key note speakers and representative of former staff and elected officers, photo exhibitions and the screening of documentary films highlighting the Banks cooperation with the Government of Ghana and its activities in the country.
 Welcoming the guests to the august gathering, AfDB’s Resident Representative in Ghana, Mrs. Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade said that the Bank had remained a dynamic, solid and highly relevant institution in the face of global crises and challenges within the Continent. She added that the success of the 50 year journey could be attributed to the Banks ability to develop its strategic focus around the areas critical to Africa’s needs such as infrastructure, regional integration, private sector development, governance and skills technology and to the resilience of Management and staff. 
Mrs. Akin-Olugbade indicated that the Banks mandate remained relevant today and affirmed that the Bank will continue to be at the forefront of Africas social and economic transformation. Mrs. Akin-Olugbade expressed gratitude to the Government and people of Ghana for the excellent cooperation.
Honorable Kofi Humado, Honorable Minister for Agriculture in his remarks, thanked the Bank for the support rendered to Ghana, especially in the transport and agriculture sector. He expressed the hope that in the coming future the Bank’s intervention will propel Ghana to become a Net Donor.
Two key note speakers shared their expectations for the Bank over the next fifty years. Estelle Sowah, CEO of Google Ghana expressed her desire to see a leadership from Ghana and Africa that is well informed with a clear vision to implement sound economic policies. In the main, she recommended that technology should drive innovation and big thinking to achieve equality and access to basic needs such as health and education. Mike Nyinaku, CEO of Beige Capital Group spoke on the need to develop African Entrepreneurship and called on the Bank to be bold and flexible in supporting the private sector. A former Executive Director of the Bank, Mrs Peace Ayisi- Okyere paid homage to the contributions of former staff members of the Bank.
Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur commended the Bank for its role as a key development partner for Africa and Ghana, a partner who understands Africa. He noted that the Bank had intervened in many African countries and had contributed to improving livelihoods and reducing poverty particularly through its social inclusion programmes in health and education. The Vice President also paid special tribute to the Banks valuable support to Ghana dating back to 1973 and was hopeful of a continued and excellent cooperation in future. He further highlighted the singular choice of the Bank to address the inaugural session of the recently concluded National Economic Forum, in recognition of the Banks role as a trusted partner. He formally declared the 50th Anniversary celebrations duly launched.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vodafone sells 45% shares in Verizon for US$130 billion

Vodafone has sold its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to US telecoms group Verizon Communications in one of the biggest deals in corporate history. The US$130 billion (£84bn) deal was announced by Vodafone after the close of trading on the London Stock Exchange. The company will return £54 billion to its shareholders, of which £22 billionn will go to shareholders in the UK. Vodafone will also invest money in its business, with funds earmarked for high speed mobile phone networks. It said that by 2017 its main five European markets would have almost complete 4G coverage. Possibly it would be wrong to carp and wring hands that Vodafone won't be paying a penny of tax to the British taxman” Vodafone group chairman Gerard Kleisterlee said: "The transaction will position Vodafone strongly to pursue our leadership strategy in mobile and unified communication services for consumers and enterprises, both in our developed markets and across our emerging markets businesses." The...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shortage of weighing cards hit major hospitals in Accra

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express There is scarcity of Child Health Records Book (weighing cards), in some major public hospitals in the capital, information reaching the Daily Express indicates. Checks by this paper revealed that while some of the hospitals have being encountering the shortage for about a year now, others started experiencing it six months ago. In place of the Child Health Record Book (weighing card), the nursing mothers are given a single card on which information of children are recorded on it. Those hospitals identified are the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Korle Bu Polyclinic, Kaneshie Polyclinic, Adabraka Polyclinic and the Ridge Hospital. At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the nursing mothers are given yellow cards in place of the weighing cards. The Public Relations Secretariat at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said such information has not come to their notice and for that matter they cannot comment on it. “We do not have some ...
Post a Comment
Read more

ABL launches chibuku super in Bolgatanga

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong sarpong007@gmail.com Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) has officially launched the Chibuku Super drink at Bolgatanga in the Upper East region with the aim of reaching a lot of customers. Mr. Thomas Nii Ponku, Supervisor in charge of Chibuku Super at ABL told Daily Express that the management decided to launch the Chibuku Super drink in the Upper East region because they’ve realized it is similar to a traditional drink in the region. “Chibuku is like a well developed pito, a traditional drink made from fermented millet or sorghum in the Northern part of Ghana. So the idea is to provide them with similar drink,” he added. Mr. Nii Ponku disclosed this when members of the Institute of Finance and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) toured the facility of ABL to acquaint themselves with the expansion project at the factory. He mentioned that after a feasibility study, they realized there is a potential market for the product in the northern part of Ghana ...
Post a Comment
Read more