Somali President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo on Monday held meeting with the president of African Development Bank (AFD), Akinwumi A. Adesina in New York.
During the meeting on the merging of United Nations General Assembly, President Farmajo and Adesina discussed wide range issues including debt relief and Somalia’s economic reforms.
In a twitter post, Somalia’s presidency said the president briefed the head of the bank about his government to improve the economy and launched development projects in the Horn of Africa Nation.
“. The President informed the Bank leader of Somalia’s commitment to achieving debt cancellation through economic reforms. Grateful for Bank support in reforms and recovery,” the post reads.
The discussion comes barely a month after the bank signed two grants for $28.8 million for road and water supply projects to improve livelihoods in Somalia and boost resilience.
The grants, approved by the Bank’s Board on 19 July 2019, confirmed sustained efforts, especially by the African Development Fund, to tackle fragility in the Horn of Africa. They comprise $11.99 million for the Kismayo Baidoa urban water project and $16.86 million to partly finance a $66.7 million road.
Somalia’s deputy finance minister Abdullahi Sheikh Ali signed for Somalia and Nnenna Nwabufo, deputy director-general, East Africa signed for the Bank Group.
The Bank plans to launch the two projects in mid-September, noted Nwabufo while recognising the contributions of the EU, the Italian government, and critical commitments by the Somali government.
The bank will oversee a road project, which will rehabilitate 355 km of regional road networks.
It is expected to boost productivity, improve living standards, increase inter-regional trade, cut the cost of doing business and create jobs, especially during implementation.
