PHOTO: VP Taylor and AfDB President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina at the forum
Monrovia-Liberia- A press release from her office on Sunday, November 5, 2022 says Vice President of Liberia, H.E. Chief Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor, remarkably represented H.E. President George Manneh Weah and Liberia last week in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire at the just-ended Africa Investment Forum (AIF) organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The three-day event, held from November 2nd to 5th, 2022 in the Ivorian commercial capital, Abidjan, attracted the participation of several African Heads of State and Government. The African leaders chaired boardrooms and led transactions with potential investors.
They included Vice President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné of Côte d’Ivoire, who represented President Alassane Ouattara.
Others were President Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia; President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana; President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe; Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor of Liberia; Vice President Philip Mpango of Tanzania; Prime Minister José Ulisses Correia e Silva n of Cabo Verde; and Prime Minister Patrick Achi of Côte d’Ivoire.
The event according to a dispatch crowded in $31 billion in investor interest in supporting various investment opportunities on the African continent.
During the event, VP Jewel Howard-Taylor remarkably captivated the crowd with her brilliant ideas on Africa’s governance, investments, agriculture, gender, development, and youth issues.
On the sidelines of the event, VP Jewel Howard-Taylor had bilateral meetings with the Presidents of Ivory Coast and Ghana and other distinguished personalities.
VP Taylor met with Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank to talk about a wide range of development issues in Liberia.
Dr. Adesina assured VP Taylor about his commitment to supporting the Government and people of Liberia.
He committed to supporting the Via Dam 800mw energy project in Liberia; gender empowerment issues through the AFAWA (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) framework, a pan-African initiative to bridge the $42 billion financing gap facing women in Africa; Youth empowerment issues through the establishment of the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank activities in Liberia.
The ADFDB President also pledged to support the agriculture sector of Liberia to scale up rice production to ensure food self-sufficiency and food security in Liberia to allow Liberia to be a net rice exporting country.
He used the occasion to thank President Weah for his leadership and invited the Liberian leader to the agriculture summit in Senegal scheduled for January 2023.
VP Howard-Taylor then extended greetings on behalf of President Weah and the great people of Liberia and pledged the Country’s support to the Bank’s success.