15-Yr $500m Nigeria Trust Fund: Adesina Grateful To FG
…Gives Account Of 10-Yr Stewardship As AfDB President
BY PATRICK WEMAMBU
President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for approving a $500 million capital replenishment of the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF) – extending the facility for an additional 15 years to support development financing across low-income African countries. He made the remarks during the opening session of the 2025 AfDB Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire yesterday.
“To President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and to Vice President Kashim Shettima, for your support over the past two years, I am profoundly grateful. Thank you for graciously approving the replenishment of the Nigeria Trust Fund for another 15 years for $500 million,” Dr. Adesina stated.
The Daily Times reports that the Nigeria Trust Fund established in 1976 is a self-sustaining concessional facility operated by the AfDB. It was created through a formal agreement between the Nigerian government and the Bank to provide targeted support to economically vulnerable African countries.
The fund operates independently of the African Development Fund (ADF) and core AfDB capital, offering more flexible and project-specific financing.
READ ALSO: Female AMAC Chairmanship Aspirant to battle 22 male contenders
Unlike the ADF, which allocates funds through country quotas, NTF resources are deployed based on project needs, allowing Nigeria to support both public and private sector initiatives through co-financing or standalone interventions. The fund is also used to enhance ongoing AfDB-supported projects by bridging funding gaps.
The renewed injection of $500 million is expected to expand Nigeria’s development footprint across Africa and reinforce its strategic role in supporting regional integration, infrastructure and economic resilience in fragile states.
Analysts view the extension as a continuation of Nigeria’s longstanding commitment to multilateral development financing and its objective of promoting stability and inclusive growth on the continent.
The 15-year renewal also signals confidence in the AfDB’s governance and Nigeria’s support for its regional mandate.
With the new capital commitment, the NTF is expected to play a pivotal role in co-financing projects in energy, transportation, agriculture and social services, particularly in countries with limited access to concessional capital.
Nigeria’s continued contribution to the fund aligns with its foreign policy objectives and its leadership role within the African Union and other regional economic bodies.
It also underscores the country’s emphasis on regional cooperation as a tool for sustainable development and long-term peacebuilding.
The AfDB’s 2025 Annual Meetings have focused heavily on deepening partnerships, mobilising capital for climate adaptation, and addressing structural gaps in fragile economies.
Nigeria’s renewed commitment to the NTF adds significant weight to the Bank’s efforts to unlock more targeted development finance for Africa’s least developed nations.
Giving an account of his stewardship being the last Annual Meetings he will be attending as President of the African Development Bank Group, Adesina expressed appreciation for the opportunity to serve.
Said he; “It is a special moment to reflect on the 10-year journey of my Presidency and to give a public account of the stewardship you have collectively entrusted to my care.
“So, I have much to say today, so please excuse me as I will take a bit of time. But you can be sure I will not be speaking as President next year. So, you can deduct from my time next year!
“I wish to start first by saying thank you. Thank you for electing me as President of the African Development Bank on May 28th, 2015 right here in Abidjan, in this very same hall.
“Thank you for re-electing me in 2020 to a second 5-year term, with a historic 100% of the votes of all 81 regional and non-regional shareholder countries, the first ever such in the history of the African Development Bank.
“As I have always said, being President of the African Development Bank for me, is not a job; it is a mission. Nothing can be greater than to be given the responsibility, resources, mandate, support and the platform to help transform Africa, the continent of my birth.
“Thank you to you, African Heads of State and Government, for your incredible support. I made it the hallmark of my Presidency to carefully listen to and understand the needs of your countries and to do all possible, within the available resources of the Bank, to support your economic and development ambitions.
“Thank you to the people of Africa who daily are our focus. As I said to my staff, the most important part of the African Development Bank is the “development” part. We must fast track Africa’s development.
“I am proud that over the past 10 years, the African Development Bank has been an accelerator of Africa’s development.
“The High 5s of the Bank, to light up and power Africa, feed Africa, industrialize Africa, integrate Africa and improve the quality of life of the people of Africa have been transformational for Africa.
“In the past decade, the work of the African Development Bank has impacted the lives of 565 million people.
“This includes: 28 million people with access to electricity; 104 million people with food security; 121 million people with access to improved transport; 128 million people with access to improved health services; 67 million with improved access to information and communication technology; 63 million people with access to drinking water; 34 million people with access to sanitation. The Bank accelerated regional integration with massive support for infrastructure to support the African continental free trade area.
“Over the ten-year period under my presidency the African Development would have provided a total of $102 billion in support to Africa. This represents 46% of all the financing of the Bank since its establishment in 1964.
“The African Development Bank financed over $55 billion in support of infrastructure, from roads, rails, airports, seaports, digital and communications, health, water and sanitation…
“Right here in our host country, almost all the major urban infrastructure you see in Abidjan, were supported by the Bank. Your Excellency, President Ouattara, I am delighted to let you know that, under my Presidency, the African Development Bank’s financial support to Cote d’Ivoire grew by 500% over the last ten years.
“To put this in perspective, the total lending by the African Development Bank to Cote d’Ivoire from 1964 to 2014 (50 years) was EUR 2.3 billion. From 2015, when I was elected to the present, the Bank’s financing for Cote d’Ivoire stands at EUR 3.6 billion, 1.6 times more than what had been approved for Cote d’Ivoire in the previous 50 years.
“This includes the now famous Henri Konan Bedie bridge in Abidjan. Also, the Bank, through the Projet de Transport Urbain de la ville d’Abidjan (PTUA) financed the iconic 1,400-meter-long 4th bridge linking Yopougon to Adjame; including 88 kilometers of city highways and 89 intersections.
“It includes all the beautiful highways leading to the new Alassane Ouattara Stadium, where Cote d’Ivoire won the 2023 African Cup of Nations!
“Your Excellency, President Ouattara, I hope that in addition to delivering for the African Cup of Nations, as a Bank, we have tried for Cote d’Ivoire!
“Let me touch on a few other projects pertaining to the countries of the heads of state present here today. While several can be listed for each African country, time does not allow. Nonetheless, the impact of the African Development Bank Group is tangibly felt all across Africa.
“In Tanzania, we are supporting the $3.2 billion standard gauge railway connecting Tanzania to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
“We supported the transport corridor that links Addis Ababa to Nairobi and Mombasa which has reduced the time to travel from 3 days to 1 day and expanded trade between both nations by 400%.
“The Bank’s Last Mile Connectivity Project in Kenya has helped to increase the number of Kenyans connected to national electricity grid from 2.42 million households in 2014 to 9.7 million households in 2024. This helped the country increase electricity access from 36% to 76% over the same period.
“Also, the Lake Turkana wind project in Kenya is the largest operational wind power mill in Africa.
“As President Ruto of Kenya said when he conferred me with Kenya’s Highest National Honor, Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart, a great recognition of the work of the African Development Bank: I am proud of the journey we started together ten years ago; I can see its fruits. Kenyans can feel its benefits.
“Today, the Kazungula bridge connecting Zambia to Malawi and Namibia is expanding regional trade in southern Africa. Since 1974, the collective dream of the people of Senegal and the Gambia was to have a bridge connecting both countries. That dream was realized by the African Development Bank and the African Development Fund. The impressive Senegambia bridge and the 24-kilometer road leading up to it has cut travel time from two days to less than 10 minutes.
“The Port Autonome de Lomé in Togo has been expanded and turned it into a major transit port. In Comoros, we supported the construction of roads linking the islands. In Egypt, the Bank supported the Gabal El Asfar, a wastewater treatment plant. It serves 12 million residents. It is now the largest water treatment plant in Africa and is set to serve a total of 17.5 million people by 2040.
“The Bank supported the Noor Ouarzazate solar complex in Morocco, which was the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant at the time of its completion.
“We launched the Lagos to Abidjan highway corridor for which the African Development Bank is supporting the feasibility studies, and we have mobilized $15 billion in investment interests.
“In Nigeria, we are implementing the development of special agro-industrial processing zones in 8 States and the FCT and have mobilized $2.9 billion to support the establishment of these zones in 28 more States of Nigeria.
“We have stood by countries that were under sanctions to clear their debt arrears to the Bank, including Somalia and Sudan. Today, thanks to support from the African Development Fund, Somalia is showing recovery and greater resilience.
“Thanks to the African DevelopmentACHIEVING the Bank’s Technology for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), Sudan (even in the midst of conflict) is showing remarkable progress towards achieving self-sufficiency in wheat. With our support it achieved 50% self-sufficiency in wheat in 2023 and 85% by 2024.
“We are also standing with Zimbabwe to clear its arrears to the Bank and other creditors. As champion of the debt arrears process, working with former president Chissano, we have supported Zimbabwe to make significant progress. I am pleased that the IMF Staff Monitored Program will be concluded this month.
“The past ten years were filled with never-before-seen multiple and simultaneous crises, from Covid19 to geopolitical tensions emanating from the Russian war with Ukraine, which in turn triggered a global food crisis. At the same time, a global debt crisis and devastating climate change, posed untold hardships and challenges.
“In the midst of these polycrises, the African Development Bank Group stood strong and innovatively supported Africa as it navigated each crisis. Africa survived. Africa was resilient. Africa grew out of them all.
“And Africa is still standing … and standing tall. We stood up for Africa when it mattered most: the Covid 19 crisis. Africa, the continent with the least room to maneuver, was effectively left alone in the midst of the most challenging global crises it had faced in decades: no vaccines, no medicines, no oxygen, no masks, no gloves.
“As developed countries got second and third Covid-19 vaccine booster shots, Africa was scrambling for just one shot for its population. The African Development Bank swung into bold action and launched a $3 billion social bond, the largest ever in world history at the time, to support Africa. We set up a Crisis Response Facility for up to $10 billion for counter cyclical support for countries.
“Working away from home, the Bank staff were exemplary, and we delivered more for Africa. Today, the African Development Bank Group is implementing a $3 billion program for quality health infrastructure, and a $3 billion program for the development of local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in Africa.
“We created a new institution, the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, to enable Africa gain access to intellectual property rights, and to protected technologies and processes for manufacturing medicines and vaccines.
“We have strongly supported African agriculture and in the process increased Africa’s capacity to feed itself. In ten years, our work allowed 104 million Africans to achieve food security and provided 13 million farmers with access to improved agricultural technologies.
“I see the impact of our work in supporting Africa to avoid a looming food crisis predicted when the war of Russia in Ukraine broke out. The news headlines were awash with predictions of food crisis in Africa, as the continent would lose 30 million tons of food (wheat, maize and oilseeds) imported from Russia and Ukraine.
“The African Development Bank swung into action with its $1.5 billion emergency food production facility. Our Feed Africa plan worked! In just 2 years, our support had allowed 14 million farmers across 30 countries to have access to improved seeds and fertilizers. They produced 44 million tons of food (116% above the target) worth $17.3 billion.
“Thanks to the Bank’s support, Ethiopia increased its agricultural areas producing heat tolerant wheat varieties from 5,000 hectares when we started in 2018, to over 650,000 hectares by 2023, allowing the country to become self-sufficient in wheat within four years.
“The landmark Feed Africa Summit, which was held in Dakar, brought together over 30 Heads of State and Government, who signed the Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts to accelerate food production and food sovereignty in their countries, which was approved unanimously by the African Union. We mobilized $72 billion globally for Africa’s food security.
“The inspiration of the Feed Africa Summit informed our next bold action to achieve universal access to electricity in Africa. To fast-track access to electricity, the African Development Bank and the World Bank jointly launched the Mission 300 in Dar Es Salaam, to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030.
“At the Africa Energy Summit in January this year, we organized, hosted and co-chaired along with Her Excellency President Samia Suluhu Hassan, a historic gathering of over 48 African countries, where leaders unanimously endorsed the Dar es Salaam Declaration on Energy Access, with the full support of the African Union. The Declaration marks an unprecedented continental commitment to accelerate energy access through coordinated national actions, regional interconnections, and enhanced investment in renewables and grid expansion.
“In all, we mobilized $55 billion in support of these national energy compacts. Also, we advanced on providing universal access to clean cooking to women in Africa with a successful Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris, co-chaired with President Samia Suluhu Hassan, that mobilized $4 billion for clean cooking.
“The African Development Bank launched the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA), supported by the G7, to mobilize $10 billion for climate resilient infrastructure in Africa. We strongly supported the youth and women. The Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) approved $2.5 billion in support of over 24,000 women-owned businesses in Africa; expanding access of women businesses to finance through 185 financial institutions in 44 countries.
“In support of the youth, and to help unleash their potential, the Bank launched Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks, which will expand access to finance to create youth-based wealth across Africa. We expanded the voice and participation of civil society in Bank projects and instituted a civil society forum each year to interact and engage more transparently. Today, rather than being adversaries we are partners.
“We significantly strengthened the financial architecture in Africa. Thanks to our African Development Fund donors, we raised $8.9 billion for ADF16, the largest ever in the history of the Fund since 1973. We innovated and developed a new financial framework that will allow the ADF to mobilize $27 billion from global capital markets.
“The shareholders of the Bank showed extraordinary support and confidence in our leadership and management of the Bank.”
