Also known as: AfDB · African Development Bank Annual Meetings · Africa Development Bank Group
Multilateral financial institution supporting infrastructure, agriculture, and trade development projects across Africa, including loans to Kenya and initiatives on regional value chains.
… He backed coordination among African multilateral lenders and risk insurers, including the African Development Bank and ATI, saying these institutions are key to building “financial sovereignty”. …
… According to the African Development Bank, agriculture accounts for roughly 35% of Africa’s GDP and employs more than half of the continent’s workforce, yet financing gaps remain severe, especially for smallholders. …
… ersation that while we go looking for financing our projects using other people’s money, we already have enough in Africa,” he said.Ruto said African leaders had agreed to prioritize unlocking domestic financing mechanisms through institutions such as the African Development Bank …
… The EU, European Investment Bank, African Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation, World Bank and the United States are all supporting the initiative in partnership with Angola, Zambia and the DRC. …
… ca Forward Summit will seek to accelerate reforms to the international financial architecture and push for the agenda at the G7 Summit to be hosted in France next month. “We will try and speed up the reform of the African Financial Infrastructure with the African Development Bank …
… he said the Africa Forward Summit will seek to reform the international financial architecture and defend the reforms at the G7 Summit to be hosted in France next month. “We will try and speed up the reform of the African Financial Infrastructure with the African Development Bank …
African Development Bank President, Donald Kaberuka. [File, Standard] A richly endowed continent with as much population as China’s and India’s, but fragmented into 54 independent states, whose collective voice and feel are marginal in the evolving global order. …
African policymakers, investors, businesses and development partners gathered in Nairobi for the inaugural GreenWorks 4 Africa Forum, organized by Jacob's Ladder Africa and partners including the African Union Commission and Kenya's Ministry of Environment, to develop practical solutions for creating green jobs as the continent transitions to a low-carbon economy.
African policymakers, investors, businesses and development partners gathered in Nairobi for the inaugural GreenWorks 4 Africa Forum, organized by Jacob's Ladder Africa and partners including the African Union Commission and Kenya's Ministry of Environment, to develop practical solutions for creating green jobs as the continent transitions to a low-carbon economy.
Kenya's Deputy President Kithure Kindiki attended the Infra for Africa Forum 2026 in Dar es Salaam on August 5–6, a continental summit bringing together heads of state, investors, and policymakers to mobilise financing for transformative infrastructure projects across Africa. Kindiki outlined Kenya's infrastructure priorities in transport, energy, housing, water, digital infrastructure and logistics as the country seeks investment in strategic projects.
The East African Business Council launched a two-day business clinic supported by the African Development Bank to prepare more than 50 enterprises in textile, leather and edible oil sectors to access AfCFTA's 1.3 billion consumer market through strengthened value chains and value addition.
East African businesses have been urged to strengthen regional value chains and invest in value addition to capitalize on opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area. The initiative, supported by the African Development Bank, aims to equip enterprises in the textile, leather and edible oil sectors with practical knowledge on exporting under the AfCFTA framework.
Mining and Blue Economy Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho has ordered immediate suspension of all mining operations by Tata Chemicals Magadi Limited, citing the company's failure to meet multiple compliance issues under the Mining Act, including lack of mineral beneficiation strategy, outstanding royalty obligations, poor Community Development Agreement implementation, and inadequate employment planning for Kenyan citizens.
Project management experts say that while Africa has growing investment commitments worth about US$400 billion annually, fewer than 10 per cent of infrastructure projects reach financial close because nearly 80 per cent fail during feasibility or business planning stages, creating an execution gap between pledges and completed projects.
NCBA Bank and African Guarantee Fund have committed $5 million to empower women entrepreneurs in Africa through the AFAWA Women Small and Medium Enterprises Acceleration Programme, which equips women-owned businesses with skills, networks, and access to finance. The commitment was announced at a pitch event where 32 women entrepreneurs presented their business plans to an investment panel.
Kenya has secured a Sh43.3 billion (€293.88 million) loan from the African Development Bank, marking the second major external disbursement the government has received in the last three weeks.
President William Ruto announced that the government has secured Sh10.6 billion in financing from the African Development Bank Group to begin construction of the second phase of the Thwake Dam by April 2027, which aims to improve water security, expand irrigation, and increase renewable energy generation in Kenya's lower eastern region.
The government has raised Sh350 billion for the proposed National Infrastructure Fund within three months, marking the first milestone in President Ruto's strategy to finance Kenya's infrastructure without relying solely on public debt. The fund aims to grow to Sh5 trillion and finance projects including clean energy production, dam construction, road development, and expansion of the Standard Gauge Railway and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Industry leaders say Africa's beverage market must invest more aggressively in innovation, stronger brands, and consumer intelligence to unlock economic potential. The continent's food and beverage market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 7–8 per cent through 2030, driven by urbanisation, a youthful population, and rising disposable incomes, though counterfeiting, currency volatility, and supply chain disruptions pose threats.
Africa generates a significant share of the world's 2.5 quintillion daily bytes of data, with its data economy projected to reach $290 billion by 2030, yet the continent captures less than 3% of actual value from the global data economy — a governance rather than technology problem stemming from lack of frameworks, policies, and infrastructure to surface and process data at scale.
The World Food Prize Foundation has honoured three African individuals and institutions for contributions to agricultural innovation and food security at a conference in Nairobi. The Norman E. Borlaug Medallion was awarded to AGRA for two decades of work supporting smallholder farmers across Africa.
At Nairobi's DialogueNEXT Summit, former African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina called on African governments to demonstrate stronger political will to end hunger, arguing that the continent possesses the technology and knowledge needed but lacks the political accountability to implement proven agricultural innovations. He noted that nearly 320 million Africans continue to suffer from hunger and acute malnutrition despite decades of advances in agricultural science.
Agricultural leaders, policymakers, scientists, and farmers have gathered in Nairobi for DialogueNEXT in Africa, a World Food Prize Foundation summit aimed at accelerating agricultural innovation and addressing food security as Africa faces climate pressures and population growth projected to make the continent home to more than one in every four people globally by 2050.
More than 1,000 policymakers, financiers and industry leaders are gathering in Nairobi from June 30 to July 2 at the FINAS 2026 Summit to address a $100 billion annual financing gap in Africa's agriculture sector, as Kenyans face soaring food prices and rising hunger linked to climate shocks.
Kenya is accelerating water storage and harvesting projects as officials warn that nearly half of treated water is lost before reaching consumers through leakages, illegal connections and billing gaps. The National Infrastructure Fund has identified 50 dam projects aimed at boosting domestic supply, irrigation and industrial use.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe launched the Kenya AgriConnect Compact (2025–2030), a Ksh.1.47 trillion partnership with the World Bank to modernise agriculture through technology, digitisation, and agritech platforms, with the government committing Ksh.492.5 billion and seeking Ksh.984.9 billion in private investment.
The head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency has defended Kenya's pursuit of nuclear power despite the country already generating more than 90 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, arguing that energy decisions must account for future needs beyond current success.
Finance ministers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will present their 2026/27 budgets to parliament on Thursday, with investors watching how they will manage cost shocks linked to the Middle East war while controlling debt. East Africa faces particular vulnerability due to reliance on petroleum and fertiliser imports, prompting the African Development Bank to cut the region's growth forecast for the year by half a percentage point.
An opinion piece argues that as East African finance ministers prepare budgets totalling roughly USD 125 billion across six countries, the real test will be whether these budgets shift power and decision-making to young people who must live with today's consequences, rather than simply funding government activity.
The Africa Financial Summit, hosting 1,250 policymakers, central bankers, investors and fintech disruptors, is heading to Luanda in November for the first time, reflecting Africa's search for a financial system capable of funding its own ambitions. Angola's economic modernisation and diversification beyond oil, alongside projects like the $1.2 billion Lobito Corridor linking Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, illustrate the type of cross-border investment shaping Africa's economic future.
The Co-operative Bank of Kenya has been named SME Bank of the Year in Africa at the 2026 African Banker Awards, recognising its contribution to SME financing and economic empowerment across the continent.
President Ruto commissioned the 400/220KV Mariakani substation in Kilifi County, developed by KETRACO, which links the Coast to Nairobi through the national transmission grid. Since its energization in December 2025, thermal power generation at the Coast has reduced from 100MW to 35MW, a 65 percent reduction in fossil-fuel reliance.
Kenya is testing local-currency securitization of smallholder farm loans to attract institutional investors into agriculture. The move reflects a broader African shift to build financial infrastructure, including warehouse receipt systems and digital commodity registries, to standardize agricultural risk and make farm lending more investable at scale.
Spotify Sub-Saharan Africa Managing Director Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy spoke at the platform's Johannesburg event about royalties and the continent's music sector. The company revealed that South African artists generated more than Ksh.3.9 billion in royalties on Spotify in 2025.
An editorial argues that Africa's partnerships with external actors—focused on financing, infrastructure, resources, and trade—risk deepening dependency unless the continent develops industry-ready skills to drive its own industrialisation and fulfil the vision of the African Continental Free Trade Area and Agenda 2063.
Kenya will host the FINAS 2026 Summit from June 30 to July 2 in Nairobi, bringing together over 1,000 policymakers, financiers and industry leaders to address a $100 billion annual financing gap hobbling Africa's agriculture sector. The summit aims to unlock capital and translate policy into bankable investments that reach smallholder farmers, who produce 70–80 per cent of the continent's food supply but remain largely excluded from formal financing.
The Agence Française de Développement Group unveiled new initiatives in energy, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and sports development at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi. Key announcements include a €173 million financing package to improve electricity access in Benin through the construction and rehabilitation of approximately 4,500 kilometres of power lines, expected to benefit about 600,000 people.
Sub-Saharan Africa's skills shortage is locking the continent out of development capital, the Project Management Institute warns ahead of its annual summit in Cape Town in September. The institute says the lack of bankable projects and skilled professionals is hindering Africa's ability to unlock funding and deliver impact.