By Emmanuel Nduka Obisue
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said Africa’s transition states will require $210 billion annually to achieve sustainable structural economic transformation.
Dr Abdul Kamara, Director-General, Nigeria Country Department of the AfDB, disclosed this during a policy dialogue session at the ongoing Nigerian Economic Society (NES) Conference on Thursday in Abuja.
The session was themed “Driving Africa’s Economic Transformation in Transition States: The Role of Capacity Development and Knowledge Management”.
Kamara noted that despite Africa’s potential, transition states faced fragile institutions, post-conflict reconstruction, limited fiscal capacity and revenue mobilisation constraints, all of which stifle inclusive development.
According to him, the AfDB’s 2024 study on inclusive growth and sustainable development in Africa identified key actions to accelerate growth. These include scaling economic growth rates to seven per cent annually and achieving GDP per capita growth of at least 3.5 per cent.
“For transition in Africa to achieve structural transformation, transition states will need $210 billion per annum,” Kamara said, warning that the continent faces a financing gap of about $188 billion annually.
He stressed that sustaining such levels of growth consistently over four to five decades was necessary for Africa to meet both the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
The AfDB official said the Bank, in partnership with the African Union, had responded by creating a Transition Support Facility that channels resources into infrastructure, energy, education, technology and innovation, sectors seen as vital for structural transformation.
Beyond growth, Kamara said, the AfDB was committed to inclusive development that creates jobs and ensures young people access opportunities in emerging sectors. He cited ongoing projects in Nigeria under the Investing in Digital and Creative Enterprises (i-DICE) programme as examples.
He urged policymakers and stakeholders to design homegrown solutions, stressing that Africa’s transformation must be locally driven with the active participation of citizens and institutions.
Kamara commended the NES for providing a platform for dialogue and the Nigerian government for creating an enabling environment for hosting the conference, while reaffirming AfDB’s commitment to support transition states with financial and technical assistance.
