The African Development Bank and the Arab Coordination Group wrapped up meetings in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, this week, marking the first time the bloc of Arab development finance institutions has convened at the AfDB’s headquarters.
The gathering was widely seen as a signal of deepening ties between the bank and the Arab region at a moment when Western aid budgets are under pressure and African financing needs remain vast. For AfDB President Sidi Ould Tah, who took office in September, the meetings also offered an early test of his pitch to position the bank as a bridge between Africa and new sources of capital, particularly from the Gulf.
“This high-level consultation marks a deliberate shift from cooperation to co-investment, from parallel efforts to coordinated impact, and from ad-hoc transaction to programmatic engagement and strategic alignment,” Tah said at the meeting.
About the author
Ayenat Mersie
Ayenat Mersie is a Global Development Reporter for Devex. Previously, she worked as a freelance journalist for publications such as National Geographic and Foreign Policy and as an East Africa correspondent for Reuters.
