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World Bank President to participate in AU Summit
From Francis Ameyibor, GNA Special Correspondent, Addis
Ababa
Addis Ababa, Jan. 25, Ghanadot/GNA – The World Bank (WB) on
Friday announced that the bank’s Group President, Mr Robert
B. Zoellick will participate in the 10th Ordinary Session of
the Assmebly of African Heads of State and Governments
Summit scheduled from January 31 to February 2, at the
Ethiopain capital Addis Ababa.
In a statement made available to the Ghana News Agency at
Addis Ababa, the WB said Mr. Zoellick will be the first WB
President to speak at a Summit of African Heads of State and
Governments, which is on the general theme; "Industerial
Development for Africa."
According to the statement, the AU and the World Bank are
increasingly working together on a number of issues,
including regional integration, governance, post-conflict
countries, and engaging the African Diaspora in the
development of the continent.
Mr. Zoellick’s presence at the AU Summit will be an
opportunity to further strengthen the relations between the
two institutions and would use the opportunity to meet with
African Heads of State and the heads of other international
institutions in Addis Ababa to discuss the Millennium
Development Goals, Agricultural Development, and the impact
of increased food prices on the poor.
The WB President is also scheduled to visit Mauritania,
Liberia, and Mozambique in addition to Ethiopia.
According to the WB, the visit follows a successful
replenishment of the International Development Association
(IDA) which allows the Bank and its partners to expand and
deepen their support to Africa, building on last year’s
record of $5.7 billion commitment to Africa by IDA and
another $1.6 billion by the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), the Bank Group’s private sector arm.
In Mauritania, which stands as a bridge between Sub-Saharan
Africa and the Arab World, Mr. Zoellick will meet with
President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and key
government officials to discuss how the World Bank Group can
support Mauritania’s transition to a middle income country.
The WB President would also have an exchange with
parliamentarians and representatives of civil society to
learn more about the country’s challenges, meet with the
private sector and discuss the IFC and Multilateral
Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)’s role in supporting
Mauritania’s growth agenda.
In Liberia, Mr. Zoellick’s visit will focus on the
development challenges facing the country and its efforts to
promote growth, overcome poverty, and improve the Liberian
people’s living standards.
Mr. Zoellick will talk to beneficiaries of community
projects, meet with Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson
and participate in a roundtable with Finance Ministers from
Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Togo to
discuss the Bank’s support to post-conflict countries and
the lessons learned from its work in Liberia.
He will meet with donor representatives; and discuss the
Bank Group’s contribution to private sector development in
Liberia.
After attending the AU Summit in Addis, Mr. Zoellick will
travel to Mozambique where he will meet with President
Armando Guebuza, as well as representatives from government,
the private sector, and civil society.
He will visit Sofala province and Maputo, and will have a
chance to see the flood-affected areas of the Zambezi and
Púngue rivers, visit the Mozal aluminium plant and Temane
gas distribution point for the city, both of which have been
supported by the IFC and MIGA.
GNA
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