BANGKOK: President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah has pledged continued support for infrastructure, energy, agriculture and other priority sectors across Africa following high-level discussions with finance ministers of AfDB Constituency 15 during the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok.
The meeting, held Tuesday, was led by Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, who chairs the constituency.
Other participating ministers included Seedy K.M. Keita of The Gambia, Karefa Ansumana Francis Kargbo of Sierra Leone, and Dr. Jibril Ibrahim of Sudan.
Constituency 15 comprises Liberia, The Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
Dr. Ould Tah thanked the ministers for their support and commended their efforts to strengthen their respective economies, identifying Liberia among the countries recording strong economic performance.
He also disclosed that Constituency 15 was the first to contribute to the AfDB Fund, with Liberia committing US$3 million.
The AfDB president said, the Bank was pursuing initiatives to expand its lending capacity by mobilizing additional resources from international capital markets, enabling it to finance more development projects across the continent.
Speaking during the engagement, Minister Ngafuan commended Dr. Ould Tah’s first year of leadership, highlighting efforts to reduce bureaucratic delays, strengthen member countries’ representation and expand investment in critical infrastructure.
Ngafuan also outlined Liberia’s recent economic performance, reporting that economic growth increased from 4.0 percent in 2024 to 5.1 percent in 2025, with a further rise to 5.5 percent projected for 2026.
He said, inflation declined from 12.5 percent in early 2025 to 4.3 percent at the end of September 2026. Meanwhile, Liberia’s debt-to-GDP ratio fell from 55.6 percent in 2024 to 54.1 percent in 2025 and is projected to reach 49.6 percent in 2026. The minister added that Liberia exceeded its International Monetary Fund fiscal target in 2025.
Ngafuan highlighted three AfDB-supported initiatives which, according to him, were central to sustaining the country’s development momentum.
The first, the Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) project, seeks to strengthen revenue collection, particularly from mining, Liberia’s principal growth engine.
Improved domestic revenue generation is expected to help finance national development priorities while reducing reliance on borrowing.
The second initiative is the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB), launched in July 2025. Liberia became the first African country to operationalize the AfDB’s youth investment bank model. The initiative is designed to provide young people with financing, mentorship and skills development, with a target of creating up to 120,000 jobs.
The third project is the 288-metre Cavalla River Bridge, which will connect Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire under the Mano River Union Road programme. The bridge is expected to replace unsafe ferry and canoe crossings, reduce transportation costs and strengthen regional trade.
Ngafuan acknowledged construction delays and urged stakeholders to keep the project on schedule for completion in March 2028.
The discussions underscore Liberia’s efforts to mobilize development financing, expand economic opportunities and advance cross-border infrastructure projects as the government pursues sustained growth.
Towards Economic Empowerment And Reconciliation
