- AfDB approved $650 million annual commitment for Nigeria to drive economic transformation, resilience, and broad-based prosperity from 2025–2030.
- The bank invested $40 million in blended capital for Alliance for Green Infrastructure to support green projects across Africa.
The president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has called on African governments to end corruption and illicit capital flows.
He said the continent loses more than $580 billion annually to such outflows, worsening Africa’s $2 trillion debt pile.
Adesina stated in a Bloomberg interview on Tuesday that access to concessional financing and debt restructuring remain important but tackling leakages is crucial.
“It doesn’t matter how much water you pour into a bucket if the bucket is leaking,” he said.
“If you’re able to reduce the leakages to illicit capital, also corruption and all of these things, Africa will be able to keep a lot of these resources and meet the amount of infrastructure it needs,” he added.
In May, the AfDB estimated Africa loses about $1.6 billion daily to what it described as “financial leakages”.
The figure includes $90 billion lost yearly to illicit financial flows, $275 billion siphoned away by multinationals shifting profits, and $148 billion lost to corruption.
On May 2, the AfDB approved a five-year country strategy paper for Nigeria (2025–2030), committing about $650 million annually to drive economic transformation.
The bank also announced a $40 million investment in blended capital for the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa Project Development Fund on August 16.
Adesina argued that curbing illicit flows would allow African countries to retain more resources for infrastructure and sustainable development.