The Global Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE), Jeff Immelt, and the GE leadership team held a working session with senior African Development Bank leadership led by its Acting First Vice-President, Charles Boamah on Wednesday, March 2 in Abidjan.
Both parties discussed mutually beneficial opportunities that will broaden and deepen existing relationships. The GE Chairman said, “GE’s relationship with the African Development Bank is key for our strategy on the African continent. As you know Africa is one of the most promising growth regions for our business.”
Commenting on the outcome of the working session, Boamah commended the President of General Electric for the company’s significant and increasing investments in key sectors in African such as healthcare, infrastructure, energy, oil and gas. Private sector players like General Electric can play a critical role in bridging Africa’s infrastructure gap. “Africa’s development financing needs are huge and meeting them requires strategic partnerships with the private sector,” he said.
The AfDB’s Acting First Vice-President said infrastructure is a key pillar in the Bank’s 2013-2022 Strategy. It is in the backdrop of this strategic focus that the Bank launched the Africa50 Infrastructure Fund, an innovative infrastructure investment platform that aims at accelerating infrastructure projects in Africa by mobilizing public savings and leveraging finance from the private sector. At Africa50’s Constitutive General Assembly in July 2015 in Casablanca, Morocco, 20 African countries and the AfDB subscribed for an initial aggregate amount of USD 830 million in share capital.