Kaberuka named ‘African of the year 2013’

The African Development Bank Group President, Donald Kaberuka has been named as the 2013 African of the Year for his role in spearheading the Africa50 Fund to mobilize the financing of infrastructure projects in Africa.

The award was announced on November 8, in Addis Ababa during the African Media Leaders Forum. Kaberuka will receive a $50,000 cash award, courtesy of Nigeria’s Daily Trust newspaper.

The award will be presented at a ceremony slated for January 15 in Abuja. Last year’s African of the Year award went to former South African president Thabo Mbeki.

The Africa50 Fund, which seeks to leverage infrastructure financing for transformational development projects, was endorsed in May 2013 by African Finance Ministers during the Bank’s Annual Meetings in Marrakech.

Kaberuka has been at the frontier of ensuring the success of the projects and has said that putting in place the right infrastructure is crucial in Africa’s growth and GPD performance of each of the economies on the continent.

The Africa50 Fund is seen as the continent’s vehicle for facilitating large-scale mobilization of resources to unlock international private financing with a view to addressing Africa’s $45-billion infrastructure gap, according to some estimates.

Kaberuka says that the African Development Bank will play a lead role in the soliciting funds for the Africa 50 agenda and its success will boost Africa’s investment climate.

Salim Ahmed Salim, former Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (current African Union), said a game-changer in the delivery of infrastructure and Africa must take ownership of its development.

The 61year old Kaberuka was Rwandan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning between 1997 and 2005 before joining AfDB. He joined AfDB with a distinguished career in banking, international trade and development and government service.