Development Bank strengthens relationship with African Development Bank
Last week, African Development Bank (AfDB) Executive Director of Southern Africa Group II, Dr João Ngimbi, had a meeting with the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) exco as part of his consultation mission to Namibia to formulate a roadmap for the continental funder’s relationship with the local institution over the next ten years.
After the engagement which took place the day before Independence Day, the Development Bank Chief Executive, Dr John Steytler said his institution recently submitted its five-year strategic plan to the Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises for approval. This strategy is based on the singular goal to make the Development Bank the institution of choice for the financing of development projects. The African Development Bank partnership is a key component of this strategy.
In 2016, DBN and AfDB signed a loan agreement for a 17-year line of credit for N$4.5 billion, making the AfDB DBNs biggest funder. These funds were used for on-lending to projects in infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics and tourism.
Funding also went to renewable energy projects, land servicing and housing.
Besides providing loans to viable projects, the AfDB credit line strengthened DBN’s in-house capacity for environmental monitoring of projects in line with international best practices which helped unlock funding from other development partners such as the KfW in Germany.
From the left, Nicky Mutenda, Development Bank Chief Financial Officer, Antonia Kapia, Senior Advisor to AfDB’s Dr Ngimbi, Kennedy Mbekeani, Deputy Director General for Southern Africa, Dr John Steytler, Development Bank Chief Executive, Heike Scholtz, Development Bank Head: Business Strategy, and Dr João Ngimbi, Executive Director of Southern Africa Group II Constituency in the African Development Bank.
