Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has pledged to mobilise over $60 million to stabilise South Sudan’s economy within two years.
This came after the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mayiik Ayii Deng, held a meeting with the country manager of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Themba Bhebhe.
In a press statement, Themba said they would mobilise within two years about $60 million as an indicative, but might surpass this figure to stabilise South Sudan’s economy.
“The aim of this two-year programme is to support the country in creating an environment for diversified and resilient socio-economic development, thereby reducing fragility.
“So, to achieve this we propose to focus mostly on agriculture value change and also on the diversification of the economy,” Themba noted.
“Within these two years, we are looking at about $60 million that we might mobilise, but this is just an indicative, we might mobilise even more resources,” he added.
Appointed
The bank appointed Themba on October 1, 2021, as its country director, with great confidence in her ability to deliver. Themba, who hails from Zimbabwe, was the Chief Operation Officer at the department of operation committee secretariat and quality assurance before his new job.
“I will be using my experience and knowledge to support the bank engagement and work to improve economic performance and development of South Sudan,” he said.
The bank hailed him saying: “He brings to his role 30 years of experience including 21 years within the AfDB in-country programming, project design, portfolio management, economic policy formulation and analysis and operations review.”
Akinwumi Adesina—the president of the African Development Bank— pledged total support to South Sudan institutions to enable robust growth and development.
AfDB donates
On February 24, 2021, the African Development Bank supported South Sudan with Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs) worth $10,000 in a bid to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bank chose CARE International as the implementing partner according to the AFDB country manager Benedict Kanu.
“In this case of South Sudan, Care International was selected by the bank, and [it] identified items to be procured,” Kanu said.
“The donation will ensure the delivery of essential health services is provided in a safe environment for both the health workers and the community.”
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