The President of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina has commended President Museveni and Uganda for being one of the few countries in Africa that have well managed her external debt and has not gone beyond the recommended threshold.
He said the ADB has a proposal to help African countries reduce their foreign debt by availing them with much cheaper loans so as to pay off their foreign lenders and pay back those cheap loans to the bank in a phased way.
Mr. Akinwumi who was accompanied by Mrs. Nnenna Nwabufo (Director General Eastern Africa Regional Office), Special Envoy Shareholders-Africa Modibo Toure, Uganda Country manager Augustine Ngafuan and Phanice Mogaka was speaking at a meeting with President Yoweri Museveni when he called on him at State house Entebbe last week.
During the meeting that was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sam Kutesa, President Museveni and the African Development Bank President deliberated on a number of issues that included the African continent debt burden, youth entrepreneurship development in Africa, the impact of Covid19 on the African economies and post covid 19 response and infrastructure funding in Uganda among others.
On youth entrepreneurship; Mr. Akinwumi said that Africa’s under investment in the youth calls for urgent attention and youth entrepreneurship development banks must be the focus of global support. He added that the African development bank was committed to support youth development programs because the youth are Africa’s best asset and hold the key for the continent’s future.
He commended President Museveni and the government of Uganda for the good handling of the economy that has continued to grow notwithstanding the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He also hailed the President and the government of Uganda for the excellent handling of the corona virus which helped mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the population and the continent.
President Museveni hailed the excellent relationship that exists between the African Development Bank and the several support in terms of loans and grants that the country has benefited from the bank overtime. He welcomed the proposal of the debt bailout by the African development bank and said that Uganda was ready to work with the bank towards that direction.
He said that his government was committed to raising and availing the youth development fund and the reason the government put in place programs such as the youth livelihood program and the youth fund.
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