Cameroon celebrates 60 years of AfDB Promoting Sustainable Economic Growth in Central Africa.

Cameroon has organized a memorable ceremony to celebrate the 6 decades of the African Development Bank, 60 years of devotion, hard work, resilience, determination and commitment to social and economic development in Africa in general and Central sub-region in particular.

Cameroon just as the other members of the Central African sub-region have benefited from the opportunities the bank has offered over the decades.

Celebrating this milestone was a moment for the Group Director, N’guessa Serge Marie, and the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development who doubles as the Governor of the bank, to reflect on the various areas in which the bank has worked on. These strategic areas are infrastructure, agriculture, clean drinking water, health and education which all have an impact on the living conditions of the population.

The commemoration, under the theme, “60 Years of Making a Difference” brought together government officials, headed by the Minister of state, Pr Jacques Fame Ndongo, development partners, and key stakeholders to reflect on the Bank’s journey and its contribution to the Central African region.

According to the Minister of Economy,Planning and Regional Development, the African Development Bank has realized 120 projects with a budget of about 2940 billion CFA Francs and above 6000 operations in Africa.

In his keynote message to mark the day, he pleaded with the Director General, N’guessa Serge, to continue being the Ambassador of Central Africa and of Cameroon especially. The minister recounted all the projects and successes that the bank has recorded over the years in Cameroon.

“We will like to congratulate you on the leadership of the African Development Bank, the performance of the bank and I address my sincere gratitude to the president of the bank. I equally address our gratitude to his predecessors, they have done a great job and he has been doing a great job to continue. Cameroon and the other countries would like to express how thankful we

are to the bank for their continuous support to economic development and poverty reduction.”

The Fertile financial institution known as the first development bank in the continent is now counted as one of the best multilateral bank sin the whole world. The Director General said to the press that the achievements rely on the capacity of remaining strong despite challenges.

“60 years of supporting our countries in this region, to help them accelerate their development. The African Development Bank I can say has done its part. When you look at the economic growth of this region simply, I will talk about the economic growth during the covid-19 crisis and even the food crisis, but with the support of the bank who used its innovation, strength its full instrument and resources to support the region during those crises. This region now in 2024, after the crisis is one of the most performing economic regions of the continent. This for us is the testimony of what the bank can do. It is in difficult times that you see the strength of an institution and the countries. I will summarize the impact just during the crisis period which dates 4 years now.”

He adds that 60 years have gone a long way to see the economic development projects and population’s wellbeing come to pass

“Talking about the 60 years of achievement, we have seen our countries grow, we have seen our population from the rural area benefiting from the investment of the bank in all sectors, agriculture, energy, water, roads. We’ve seen the development of cities, we’ve seen girls and boys going to school in areas where they didn’t even have a school near them. We have seen that

change because of the contribution of the bank. After 60 years today, the bank has been recognized in the world as one of the most performing multilateral bank for the last 2 years. That’s an achievement we are proud of. We are proud of the work we have done for the African population especially for the central African region which is one of the regions which has the potential to nourish the world.”

The ceremony was coloured by the Yaounde II, Soa dance group who displayed the beauty of the countries in Central Africa including that of Congo who falls under the bank regional group.

Discussion panels were also held to ponder on the realizations of the Bank in Central Africa and in Cameroon and long lasting solutions to surmount the challenges for an inclusive and sustainable development.