$10 bln to support Africa's economy

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

The African Development Bank (AfDB) director, Alex Rugamba is expected to nearly double the banks infrastructure funding on the African continent over the next five years to $10 billion to accelerate economic growth.

The AfDB will allocate $10 billion over the next five years for infrastructure development on the continent

Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the African Union summit, Rugamba, who is director for regional integration and trade, disclosed to Reuters that a recent increase in the bank's core capital had allowed it to allocate more funds for infrastructural projects.

"We want to double our infrastructure funding," Rugamba said. "There's a big interest in projects that can transform economies... for instance there's big talk about railways. We want to revamp our railways. So if the trends continue as they are now, I would say within five years' time we'll be committing up to $10 billion per year on infrastructure."

Reiterating that, the Bank which serves as a key source of cheap credit for some of Africa's poorest economies spends between $5-6 billion annually in infrastructure funding.

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