African leaders meet in Congo amid aid cuts and Ebola fears

African leaders and financiers gathered for the African Development Bank’s annual meeting on Monday as the continent faces shrinking aid flows, with this week’s event in Congo Republic overshadowed by an Ebola outbreak across the border.

Overseas development aid from the world’s richest nations to poorer countries dropped by nearly a ‌quarter last year to US$174.3 billion. The US led the cuts, including reduced funding to the concessional lending arm of the AfDB – Africa’s largest development lender.

Against that backdrop, the bank is pushing for a fundamental shift – tapping Africa’s own financial resources to plug what it estimates is a US$400 billion annual development financing gap.

“Africa needs long-term finance for energy, food security, climate adaptation, infrastructure, and jobs for a growing and anxious population,” the AfDB said in a pre-meeting statement. “That chasm demands audacious ⁠solutions.”

Ebola may hit attendance

AfDB President Sidi Ould Tah, who took office last September, has made that shift central to his agenda and proposed ‌the New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD) to help Africa “raise development finance at scale, at speed, and at lower cost, primarily from its own resources.”