Address by Mr. Patrick Dlamini, AADFI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) at the Opening of the CEO Forum of the World Federation of Development Finance Institutions (WFDFI) holding at the Gaborone Internationa

Address by Mr. Patrick Dlamini, AADFI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) at the Opening of the CEO Forum of the World Federation of Development Finance Institutions (WFDFI) holding at the Gaborone International Convention Center (GICC) Gaborone, Botswana from November 2-4, 2016.

• His Honour Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi, the Vice President of the Republic of Botswana
• H.E. Mr. Erastus J. O. Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson  of Africa Union Commission
• His Excellency, Honourable Vincent T. Seretse, Minister of Investment Trade and Industry of the Republic of Botswana
• Ms. Lilian W.  Macharia, Representative of African Development Bank
• Mr. Arjun Fernando, Chairman WFDFI & ADFIAP & CEO, DFCC Bank PLC
• Mr. Thabo P. Thamane, Chief Executive Officer, Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA)

Distinguished Colleagues and Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this CEO Forum of the World Federation of Development Finance Institutions (WFDFI). I warmly welcome our colleagues from other continents to Africa.

Let me express our gratitude to the President of the Republic of Botswana and His government for the opportunity provided to have this CEO Forum hosted in Botswana.

We thank, His Honour Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi, the Vice President of the Republic of Botswana, for being here with us to officiate the opening of this global event despite his busy schedule. Your Excellency, your presence is a demonstration of the commitment of the Government of Republic of Botswana to promoting development in the country and in support of the global effort in ensuring that inclusive and sustainable development are entrenched in our countries across our continents.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are also pleased to have H.E. Mr. Erastus J. O. Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of Africa Union Commission, with us here. We thank you, your Excellency for honoring our invitation.

His Excellency, Honourable Vincent T. Seretse, Minister of Investment Trade and Industry of the Republic of Botswana, we appreciate your time and support to this event.

Let me also recognize the Representative of the African Development Bank, Ms. Lilian W.  Macharia. We thank the Bank for its support and partnership with AADFI.

Mr. Arjun Fernando, Chairman WFDFI & ADFIAP, and CEO, DFCC Bank PLC, India we are happy to welcome you.

And not forgetting, Mr. Thabo Thamane, CEO, CEDA and AADFI Alternate Executive Committee Member for Southern Africa, and the entire  Board of CEDA for making adequate arrangements for this Forum.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Distinguished Colleagues,

The current global development challenges are enormous and requires collective and integrated approach to weather the storm. The global and Africa development needs are well captured in the SDGs and the AU Agenda 2063. The World Economic Forum in its recent publication  encapsulated   10 key global challenges that require cooperation from the public and private sectors to be addressed,  such as ;  Food Insecurity, Inclusive Growth, Employment Challenge, Climate Change, Financial Crisis, Digital Disruption, Gender Equality, Unequal Global Trade, Long term Investment and Challenges to Global Health¹. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is very clear that addressing these challenges will require huge funding needs and will also create opportunities in various forms for the Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).

Therefore, DFIs across the continents particularly in emerging countries have enormous responsibility in mobilizing resources both domestic and external support, in addressing the global challenges in a sustainable manner.

Beyond the need for resource  mobilization to fund development, the current wind of change in the financial environment with associated disruptions require a rethink in the way we approach our businesses and the need to rise up to expectations with innovative solutions in delivering developmental impact that is inclusive and sustainable.

These issues and challenges bring to focus the relevance of this Forum, which will examine these disruptive issues and the need to re-think development finance approach to deliver desired developmental impact in our continents.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 The AADFI has collectively agreed to ensure that activities of member DFIs are directed towards meeting the SDGs. This was a decision we took during our last meeting in Lusaka Zambia in May 2016. We are going to sustain our focus on the SDGs by setting up a monitoring mechanism to track our effort in implementing the agenda and working with other partners to achieve this aspiration.

 For the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI), we have taken some steps to be proactive in entrenching reforms that will enable our DFIs to easily adapt to the new changes in the financial environment, with the adoption and application of the AADFI Prudential Standards, Guidelines and Rating System (PSGRS) in our institutions. The PSGRS has helped in strengthening many African DFIs to operate in line with best practices. Most African DFIs are therefore prepared to work with other development partners and financial institutions from other continents in ensuring that the development challenges confronting our continents are addressed.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is on this note that this CEO Forum of the World Federation of DFIs could not have come at a better time than this. I thank every one of us for joining the conversation and we look forward to a fruitful outcome from this engagement.

Thank you