By Ifeanyi Onuba, Abuja

Tuesday, 23 Nov 2010

The African Development Bank, on Monday, said that since inception in 1963, it had so far committed the sum of $4.5bn to infrastructural development in Nigeria.

Out of this amount, it said that $3.5bn was accessed by the country under the ADB window, while the balance of $1bn was obtained through the African Development Fund facility.

The ADF facility is a mechanism that is used by the bank to provide regional member countries with concessionary resources to boost their productivity and economic growth, while the ADB window was established to contribute to the economic development and social progress of African countries.

The bank’s Regional Director in charge of West Africa, Mr. Janvier Litse, disclosed these in Abuja, while briefing journalists on the proposed visit of the bank’s President, Mr. Donald Kaberuka, to Nigeria.

He also said that the bank was committed to ensuring that the country’s power problem became a thing of the past as it had set aside about $150m to tackle bureaucratic bottlenecks in the power sector reforms.

Litse said the amount, which would soon be disbursed, would provide the needed platform that would enable the private sector to effectively play a major role in the power sector.

He said, “Nigeria played a key role in the establishment of the AfDB and the management of our portfolio has improved since the creation of the Nigerian office. We have committed $4.5bn to Nigeria. Of this amount, $3.5bn was accessed under the ADB window, and $1bn, under the ADF facility.”

Source: Punch