<b>Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire 11.07.2017</b> - The Islamic Development Bank(IsDB), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have signed a historic $2bn agreement to accelerate economic development in Africa. The agreement will focus on common areas of interest such as agriculture & food security, energy and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).<br>
Dr. Bandar Hajjar, President of IsDB, and Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of AfDB signed the agreement in Abidjan, the AfDB headquaters.<br>
Speaking after the signing of the agreement, Dr. Bandar Hajjar stated that IsDB is committed to the partnership, and the collaboration would help IsDB to learn from the decentralisation experience of AfDB. Dr. Hajjar added that IsDB is reaching out to traditional and non-traditional partners alike.<br>
In his remarks, AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina stated that IsDB and AfDB can work together to accelerate the development of Africa by focusing on the areas of alignment between AfDB’s High 5 and IsDB’s President’s 5-Year Programme (P5P). Dr. added Adesina added that AfDB looks forward to a partnership that leads to transformation.<br>