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13:04, 18-Aug-2017
New Development Bank launches Africa Regional Center
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New Development Bank (NDB) launched its African Regional Center (ARC) in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday to herald new opportunities for developing countries in Africa.
The ARC will be an important contributor to sustain infrastructure development in South Africa and also a useful participant in the development agenda of the continent, NDB said in a press release.
“The establishment of the ARC, which is the first regional office of the NDB, is an important milestone for the bank. It marks the fulfillment of a commitment made by the founders of the bank in its Articles of Agreement,” said NDB President K. V. Kamath.
The launch of ARC will help the continent to defeat poverty, inequality and unemployment, said Naledi Pandor, South African Minister of Science and Technology, Xinhua reported Friday.
The ARC’s initial emphasis will be on identification and preparation of sustainable infrastructure and sustainable development projects in South Africa in line with the country's development strategy with focuses on sectors as water, transport, energy and urban development, according to the NDB.
Moreover, the bank will continue to explore opportunities to raise capital in local currency to meet the borrowers’ demand.
"It will enable our state-owned enterprises to address our critical areas of infrastructure development." South Africa's Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said, according to Xinhua.
When engaging with traditional multilateral development banks, many developing countries face challenges such as lengthy loan approval time, heavy bureaucracy and external conditions posed, said Cyril Prinsloo, senior researcher at the Economic Diplomacy Program at South African Institute of International Affairs, expecting the ARC will address these shortcomings in operation, according to Xinhua.
BRICS countries, which stand for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, launched the NDB in 2015 to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects at home and in other underserved emerging economies.
The NDB approved a first set of loans involving financial assistance of 1.5 billion US dollars for projects in renewable and green energy, and transportation in 2016 and aims at a lending target of 2.5 billion US dollars in 2017.