African Development Bank AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the African Development Bank was held on 13-14 May in Dakar, Senegal. The theme of this year’s meetings was Africa and the financial crisis.

At a general level, there was much discussion over the shape and timing of the world economic recovery, and concomitant impact for risk appetite. This discussion came from both sides, African policymakers and private sector investors.

There was some scepticism over the extent to which the recovery is sustainable and the degree to which optimism shown in the market had diverged from fundamentals. African policymakers, for their part, recognised the impact of the global crisis on Africa, after earlier periods of denial and complacency. Policy reversals were now seen as the biggest threats in the region, but so far signs for most countries were encouraging.