Deepening development funds for the continent – praise UBA’s role
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AFDB) Group, emphasizes the important need for strong cooperation between the International Financial Centre and the African Market as a means to unlock the economic potential of the continent and promote sustainable development.
Adesina made an appeal during a courtesy visit to United Bank (UBA) UK Limited in London. Recently, he worked with senior executives at Pan African financial institutions to strengthen his African partnership and address longstanding misconceptions about African investment risks.
In his remarks, the AFDB president challenged an outdated narrative that continues to define the risk profile of African investment, citing research from Moody’s analysis, which has made the default rate of African investments significantly lower than 13% in Latin America and 10% in Eastern Europe over the past 14 years.
Adesina said: “Our relationship with UBA represents one of the many important partnerships the African Development Bank Group maintains with financial institutions in Africa. Over the years, our involvement has evolved to reflect our shared interest in supporting the economic situation in Africa,” Adesina said.
Welcoming the AFDB delegation in a statement, UBA UK CEO Teresa Henshaw provided an overview of the bank’s operations in the UK, saying, “Our central focus is to promote trade, investment and aid flows to Africa and leverage a deep understanding of the African financial landscape.”
The conference examined several other sectors interested in the AFDB development agenda. This includes agriculture, energy, financial inclusion of women, and youth entrepreneurship.
Adesina highlighted the positive financial measures of the African Women (AFAWA) initiative, designed and officially launched by the French G7 president in 2019. The program addresses an estimated $49 billion in funding gap facing women-led businesses in Africa.
As of March 2025, the AFDB Group, passing through the AFDB Group, has approved $2.5 billion in funding, with more than $1.2 billion already being distributed to female entrepreneurs through a network of 185 Afawa partner financial institutions in 44 African countries. The initiative benefited more than 24,000 African women through its funding and capacity building programme.
