CGD research on the policies and practices of the international financial institutions is a crucial component of our broader mission to improve the development policies of the rich world, and the international institutions that rich countries largely control. As part of this research, the Center has convened a series of working groups to prepare strategic recommendations for the new leaders of international financial institutions early in their tenure, including the World Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank, and a planned report on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Building Africa's Development Bank: Six Recommendations for the AfDB and its Shareholders is the latest in this influential series of reports.
Donald Kaberuka was elected president of the AfDB in June 2005 and assumed leadership of the institution in September 2005. A former minister of finance and economic planning in Rwanda who is credited with helping to economy to recover from the devastation of the 1994 genocide, Kaberuka faces serious challenges at the AfDB. While the Bank has made substantial progress from its near-collapse in the mid-1990s, its recovery is far from complete. Kaberuka's most important task will be to establish the Bank as an effective agent for promoting economic development in the 53 countries it serves. The report of the CGD's African Development Bank (AfDB) Working Group offers bold suggestions for president Kaberuka and the Bank's executive directors about the the way forward.
View the executive summary in English and French
Download the full report, available in in English and French (PDF)
View the press release (PDF)