Minister of International Development Anne Kristin Sydnes

Visit to Norway of Mr. Omar Kabbaj, President, African Development Bank

Luncheon speech, Oslo, 5 April 2000

Mr. Kabbaj, ladies and gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this lunch. I have learned that this is your first trip to Norway. I am very pleased that you were able to set aside time to visit Norway in your very hectic schedule.

Within development co-operation, Norway attaches great importance to the multilateral system. The African Development Bank is indeed an important institution for development in Africa. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the excellent job you are doing as president of the Bank.

Governance is an area where the donor community and African countries have requested the ADB to play a leading role. Norway welcomes the Bank`s policy on governance. It is consistent with recent policy reorientation in the international donor community. With its regional character and local knowledge, the Bank should be well placed to offer advice on governance. We look forward to working in close co-operation with the Bank on this issue.

The African Development Bank, as the central regional development institution, clearly should have a major role in the new mode of development co-operation. In order to be able to play this role fully, the Bank needs to be a highly professional institution providing state of the art financial and technical support to the continent. The Bank needs to further sharpen its competitive edge.

We therefore welcome the partnership between the World Bank and the African Development Bank as an opportunity for the latter to play an important role in the new international development architecture.

The American actor and humorist Bob Hope once defined a bank as a place where they lend you money, provided you can prove that you don’t need it. That may be true in Beverly Hills, but you know - and I know - that this is very far from the truth in Africa. Africa truly needs fresh money, be it through domestic resource mobilization, foreign aid, soft loans or prudent lending on commercial terms.

Africa truly needs the African Development Bank.

Please, join me in a toast to continued and increased collaboration between the ADB and Norway.