The African Development Bank opened its annual meeting in Brazzaville on Monday under the shadow of two crises that are rattling Africa at the same time: a worsening Ebola outbreak in central Africa and rising economic pressure linked to the Iran war.
The gathering, one of the continent’s most influential economic events, comes as African governments face shrinking Western aid, soaring energy costs and growing public frustration over living expenses.
This year’s meeting is also the first annual summit under new AfDB president Sidi Ould Tah, the former Mauritanian finance minister who took office last September with an ambitious promise, to help Africa finance more of its own development instead of depending heavily on foreign donors.
That mission is becoming more urgent.
Aid from wealthy countries to developing nations fell sharply last year to $174.3 billion, according to international development figures, with the United States leading some of the biggest cuts.
