JOHANNESBURG – President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), said Thursday that the bank will invest $2.8 million over five years in South Africa to encourage private sector investment.

Africa’s leading nation seeks to recover from global pandemic. It temporarily closed large parts of the economy, and contributed to high unemployment.

Akinwumi Adesina revealed that AfDB’s support would be focused on agriculture, vaccine manufacturing and renewable energy.

Already, the bank supports South Africa’s state-owned businesses in trouble and currently prepares a loan package of $400 million to help Eskom, a coal-dependent utility transitioning to renewable energy.

Adesina declared that “we will now work to support South Africa’s strong drive for renewable energy, as we drive towards net zero emission,”

After coming to power in 2018, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa established a target to attract $100 billion of new investments over the next five years in order to revitalize an economy that has been plagued with slow growth and recessions.

He stated that South Africa is now two-thirds of its way to achieving this goal on Thursday.

You see the potential in this country. He said this in a speech for investors.

“Your investments have a positive impact on our country as well as our local communities.”