African Development Bank to Recieve USD1 BN from Japan

Japan will provide $1 billion to the African Development Bank over five years for it to lend to businesses on the continent.

The loan is the second Japan is giving the bank under the so-called Enhanced Private Sector Assistance accord, having provided the same amount in 2005, the lender said in a statement handed to reporters today in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha, where it is holding its annual meeting.

“In Africa, we understand that private sector-led growth has been progressing well in various sectors in addition to mineral resources,” Akihiko Tanaka, president of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, said in the statement.

The bank’s private-sector lending operations have expanded almost tenfold since the first loan was granted, it said.

Bloomberg
31 May 2012