Monrovia – A high-level delegation from the African Development Bank (AfDB) met with the Acting President and CEO of the Liberian Bank for Development & Investment (LBDI), Mr. Mark Akwenah Nyeamene to discuss a more cohesive partnership between the two institutions.
By Edwin G. Genoway, Jr(231886458910)[email protected]
The Senior Management Team at the LBDI Bank also form part of the meeting at the LBDI’s Sinkor headquarters on April 5, 2023.
During the meeting, The African Development Bank Group Vice-President, for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization M. Solomon Quaynor shared his perspective on how LBDI can effectively partner with AfDB, Africa’s premier Development Finance Institution (DFI).
Mr Quaynor said AfDB is supportive of LBDI, Liberia’s only DFI, as it repositions itself as a major vehicle in the implementation of national development projects.
Mr. Quaynor also outlined plans for technical assistance to LBDI in various areas critical to the Bank’s immediate growth plans.
Speaking earlier the Acting President and CEO of the Liberian Bank for Development & Investment (LBDI), Mr. Mark Akwenah Nyeamene expressed optimism with Mr. Quaynor about the prospect of LBDI’s participation in the country’s national development program.
“LBDI’s position as Liberia’s only Development Finance Institution presents a unique opportunity for our Bank to play a central role in AfDB’s private sector development plans in Liberia,” Mr. Nyeamene stated.
The LBDI Acting CEO said the projects AfDB is proposing will, without a doubt, strengthen the national economy and place Liberia on an unprecedented path of growth and infrastructural development.
“We are as prepared to fully contribute to the achievement of the country’s Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.
During its two-day visit to Liberia, the AfDD team met with Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, the Hon. Samuel D. Tweah, the leadership of the Central Bank of Liberia and other major stakeholders in the Liberian economy and banking sector.
The Liberian Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), the county’s only development finance institution, was created by an Act of the National Legislature in 1961.
Since 1988, it has also acted as a commercial bank.
LBDI was established under the joint initiative of the Liberian government and major international financial institutions who purchased equity in the Bank.
LBDI commenced operations in 1965 as the Liberian Bank for Industrial Development and Investment. Under an amendment in 1974, the name was changed to the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is Africa’s premier Development Finance Institution. Headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, AfDB’s overarching objective of the is to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction.
The Bank Group achieves this objective by:
• mobilizing and allocating resources for investment in RMCs; and
• providing policy advice and technical assistance to support development efforts.