Ghana will host the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the African Development Bank.

This was revealed by the Minister of Finance, the Hon. Ken Ofori Attah at a press conference in Accra yesterday.

According to him, the event will be held at the Accra International Conference Center from May 23-27, 2022. 2.

This is the first time that Ghana will host this event (in person) in our history after signing as a founding member state on August 14, 1963, in Khartoum, Sudan and attending the inaugural meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bank in November 1964 in Lagos, Nigeria. Indeed, we had a Ghanaian, Dr. Kwame Donkoh Fordjour Kantinka, as president of this bank between May 1976 and July 1979. 3.

“These facts, along with our championing role in creating what has become Africa’s premier bank, suggest that hosting this event now seems long overdue. As is often said, however, better late than never, especially now that the continent is charting a new course towards better construction,” he said.

He also affirmed that Ghana has the opportunity to host the annual meetings of the two main entities that make up the AfDB (i.e. AfDB and ADF).

“Typically, around 3,500 attendees attend the AGM. This month, we will welcome approximately 1,000 delegates for the Annual Meetings of the 57th African Development Bank (AfDB) and the 48th African Development Fund (ADF). Since its inception, the African Development Bank has been focused on its mandate: to advance Africa’s social and economic transformation and economic integration. This mission is even more relevant today. Today, 41 African economies are critically exposed to at least one of three (3) simultaneous crises – rising food prices, rising energy prices and tighter financial conditions,” he said.

The Finance Minister also indicated that food prices are 34% higher than the same period last year and have never been higher since the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations began to register them; crude oil prices rose about 60%, gas and fertilizer prices more than doubled, and global inflation hit a high of 6.0% in February, leading many central banks to report increases in interest rates, inevitably leading to increased debt servicing as the number of hungry people in Africa increased by 46 million.

As the privileged host of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, Ghana also offers the opportunity to advance the cause of economic integration in response to some of these challenges at the Annual Meetings.

The Annual General Meetings will bring together finance ministers, central bank governors, heads of local and international finance and development organizations, captains of industry and civil society from AfDB’s 81 member states; composed of 54 regional member countries and 27 non-regional member countries.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said a number of African countries are facing economic challenges.

“Today, 41 African economies are critically exposed to at least one of three simultaneous crises: rising food prices, rising energy prices, tighter financial conditions,” he said. he says, finance ministers now call the dreaded three Fs: food, fuel. and financial terms.

“It’s just a wave across Africa, and food prices are easily about 34% higher, crude oil prices about 60% higher, and global inflation is up,” he said. “.

“We saw our numbers yesterday jump to 23.6%, a good chunk of it being imported inflation.”

For April 2022, the recorded national inflation rate year-on-year was 23.6%. The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) revealed this on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. While the monthly inflation for March 2022 and April 2022 was 5.1%.