ABIDJAN – Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara opened the 2025 African Development Bank annual meetings on Tuesday with a powerful call for Africa to mobilize its own capital, accelerate regional integration and embrace economic self-reliance.
His speech emphasized the need for African nations to capitalize on their resources and youth to drive transformative and inclusive growth.
Themed “Making Africa’s Capital Work Better for Africa’s Development,” the African Development Bank’s annual meetings come amid shifting trade dynamics such as new U.S. tariffs on 47 African countries, falling foreign aid and rising inflation that call for bold, coordinated action.
Ouattara urged African leaders to take bold, coordinated action to ensure the continent’s financial independence.
“Despite the challenges Africa has faced in recent years, it is clear that the situation would have been far worse without the African Development Bank’s intervention,” Ouattara said.
Tribute to AfDB Leadership
He praised the AfDB’s outgoing president, Akinwumi Adesina, for his decade-long leadership, which saw the institution emerge as a global force in development finance. “You have revitalized this institution,” Ouattara told him.
More than 6,000 participants are taking part in the meetings in Abidjan, including heads of state, ministers, central bank governors, private sector leaders and development partners, according to the African Development Bank.
The AfDB governors are set to elect a new president on Thursday, with expectations that the next leader will continue the institution’s transformative work.
Adesina, in his farewell speech, reinforced the urgency of Africa’s economic independence.
“This is no longer a time to depend on fragments of foreign aid. Africa must unlock its own resources — human, financial, natural — and build internal value chains that drive inclusive growth,” he said.
“We must mobilize revenue locally. We must add value to our products and we must get a better share for the natural resource endowment that God has given us,” Ghana’s President John Mahama said.
In a video message, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres hailed Adesina for his visionary leadership and commitment to inclusive and sustainable development across the African continent.
