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African Development Bank and the Republic of Korea sign a general co-operation agreement to enable the bank to respond to various development needs in Africa

|  By Maureen Chigbo  |  Jun. 17, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

AN agreement that will flexibly respond to the various development needs in Africa was endorsed by the African Development Bank, AfDB, board of governors on Thursday, May 30. The endorsement paved the way for the AfDB and the Republic of Korea to sign the general cooperation agreement, GCA, that will make it possible for Korea to contribute to special funds and multi-donor funds as well towards Africa’s development.

Emmanuel Mbi, first vice-president of the African Development Bank, and Hohyun Jang, deputy director-general for the International Finance Bureau at the Korean ministry of strategy and finance, signed the agreement on the margins of the 2013 AfDB Annual Meetings in Marrakech, Morocco, May 30. Mbi, on behalf of Donald Kaberuka, the AfDB President, thanked Korea for its staunch support to Africa’s development. “The signing of the GCA comes on the heels of the approval of the Bank’s 10-Year Strategy, and in addition to financing technical cooperation, will provide the framework to finance projects and programs in the Bank’s regional member countries; and to provide contributions to multi-donor and special funds managed by the Bank,” Mbi said.

He expressed satisfaction with Korea and the AfDB delivering on their commitment on “this agreement which was first requested by your government during the Annual Meetings in Arusha in 2012.”

Jang underscored the fact that the GCA would help to effectively support inclusive growth and the gradual transition to green growth, two objectives of AfDB’s 10-Year Strategy (2013-2022). “I believe this is a win-win strategy, allowing the AfDB to use resources from a single-donor trust fund to support multi-donor trust funds.”

So far, Korea has managed the KOAFEC trust fund, which is a single donor fund. Through the GCA, Korea will contribute to special funds and multi-donor funds as well. The GCA will also allow us to participate in co-financing the AfDB projects and programs in addition to technical cooperation. Since 2007, the Government of the Republic of Korea has contributed to the KOAFEC trust fund. So far, the grant contributions amount to $48 million.

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