The President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, is among several international guests expected in Liberia this week for the July 26 Independence Day Celebrations, at the invitation of President George Weah.
According to a press statement issued in Monrovia, during his visit, Dr. Adesina will hold bilateral talks and join statesmen and other high-level dignitaries for the 172nd Independence celebrations of Liberia. Dr. Adesina will also attend the official opening of new airport facilities at Roberts International Airport in Margibi County and the new Ministerial Complex in Congo Town.
“The Bank has been a strong and strategic partner for Liberia in the transport, energy and agriculture sectors, with a primary focus on road construction, electricity generation and distribution and improving food and nutrition security,” Adesina says.
The African Development Bank recognizes the need for continued support to Liberia and is committed to assisting the nation’s work through its challenges. In particular, it will assist the government in economic policy initiatives and provide technical advice to the leadership.
The African Development Bank operations focus on, Smallholder Agricultural Productivity and Commercialization SAPEC, a study to identify areas of need in the Agricultural value chain, and a Support to the Forestry Authority to Scale up the participation of SME’s in secondary wood processing.
The SAPEC Project, which is co-financed with the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), is ongoing despite having suffered from start-up delays and negatively impacted by the Ebola Crisis. To date, it has amongst others: (i) reached 22,380 farming households (30% of them being female headed) with advisory services on the use of improved rice seeds and cassava cultivar varieties; (ii) registered 321,766 farmers across the 15 counties of Liberia on the E-Platform for effective agro-input distribution, and (iii) 58 students have been trained at bachelors and graduate levels in agriculture with 51 graduated already from 9 universities. Press Release
