OREANDA-NEWS. On June 9, 2016, the President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina, met with Finnish officials, in Helsinki, in the last leg of his three-country Nordic visit. In the different meetings, President Adesina thanked Finland for its support to the African Development Bank (ADB) and the African Development Fund (ADF), and called for its continued support to the 14th ADF replenishment.

Finland joined the ADF in 1973 and the AfDB in 1982. It has a EUR 14 million bilateral trust fund with the Bank, which focuses on water management, climate change, forestry management, adaption and environmental issues at large. Finland was the 16th largest contributor to the ADF 13th replenishment with a EUR 126 million contribution. Over the period 2014-2016, the Nordic Development Fund, which is based in Helsinki, also contributed EUR 30 million to support seven AfDB projects in the transport, agriculture and water sectors.

In Finland, President Adesina met with the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development, Lenita Toivakka; the Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is also the AfDB Governor for Finland, Elina Kalkku; and the Managing Director of the Nordic Development Fund, Pasi Hellmann. He also gave a keynote address on the theme “Unlocking Africa’s development potential” at a seminar organized by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UN-WIDER) and the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In all the meetings, the officials appreciated the co-operation between the African Development Bank and Finland. They also commended the President for his bold vision for Africa’s development and reiterated their strong support for the work of the African Development Bank. They reaffirmed their commitment to working closely with President Adesina in achieving the High 5s, which include Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.

The Governor indicated that Finland had experienced significant cuts in its ODA budget (over 43% in 2015) and so may not reach 80% of its ADF-13 contribution but was looking at new and innovative instruments to complement its contribution to the 14th replenishment of the African Development Fund.