By William Madouk<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
African Development Bank (AfDB) commemorated its 60th anniversary in Juba, with major highlights in its transformative impact across the continent and in South Sudan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Themba Bhebhe, the AfDB Country Manager for South Sudan, recounted the bank’s origins, which began when 25 African representatives agreed to establish it in Sudan.<\/p>\n He noted that the AfDB now has 81 members, including 54 African and 27 non-African shareholders from Asia, Europe, and the Americas.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to thank you for responding to my invitation and feel honored to have you with us for this important 60th anniversary of the African Development Bank,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n \u201cThis event, organised in all regional member countries, where the bank’s physical presence constitutes a strong memory to appreciate and mark the progress made by the bank since its inception,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Bhebhe emphasized that in South Sudan, the bank primarily focuses on the public sector.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have identified, I think, about two major investors in the telecoms industry, Optic Fiber and one of the operators who wants to expand their network to other areas,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n He affirmed that the bank has supported over 5,400 transformative projects across the continent in its 60 years of operation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bank has been a close and major development partner for South Sudan since 2012, with the first project on public finance management approved in 2012,\u201d he revealed.<\/p>\n He noted that one of the major components of that project was the establishment of the South Sudan Revenue Authority.<\/p>\n \u201cWe assisted the government to establish the institution from scratch, the measure of the taxes in the customs, the legislation, the policy, even the building which they house at the moment,\u201d he added. \u201cSince then, we’re putting about 400 million U.S. dollars. At the moment, there are currently 25 ongoing operations with a total commitment of 321 million U.S. dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n Bhebhe noted that the collaboration with the government has led to financing projects in water supply and sanitation.<\/p>\n I think if you go around, you have seen these bulk water supplies with silver. These are supported by the bank,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe bank’s support in the water sector has thus increased coverage of potable water to more than 50 per cent of the population in Juba and its outskirts.\u201d<\/p>\n In the agricultural sector, Bhebhe mentioned the rehabilitation of the Aweil irrigation scheme in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.<\/p>\n \u201cAbout 60% of the $321 million we supported is in agriculture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He emphasized that AfDB’s assistance has been crucial in improving agricultural and livestock infrastructure, enhancing food security, and mitigating conflicts between crop farmers and pastoralists.<\/p>\n \u201clike I said, we’ve supported the distribution of electricity in the grid in Juba, where we have seen a collection of about 40,000 customers in this country,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd we’ve just approved, the bank has just approved a 260 million facility to support the transmission line, which will enable South Sudan to import electricity from Uganda<\/p>\n He expressed pride in the organization’s accomplishments over the past sixty years, achieved in collaboration with various partners.<\/p>\n Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning, Bech George Anyak, expressed sincere gratitude for the collaboration with the bank and its support for the people and government of South Sudan.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the African Development Bank, it is important to highlight the engagement between the bank and our government,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n \u201cThis support includes vital governance initiatives and institutional reforms, as well as significant contributions to agriculture, energy, and the development of youth and women,\u201d Anyak added.<\/p>\n He highlighted the bank’s substantial contributions to social sectors, such as education, water, and sanitation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate the bank’s vital role in the electricity sector through the Juba power distribution, rehabilitation, and expansion project, which enabled the construction of 117 km of 33 kV medium voltage distribution lines and 250 km of low voltage distribution networks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Anyak assured the government’s commitment as the country transitions toward a development stage.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Anita Kiki Gbeho, stated that the UN has a strong and valued collaboration with the African Development Bank in South Sudan.<\/p>\n \u201cWe analyze together, we plan together, we program together, sometimes we even have rigorous debates together, but all in support of South Sudan,\u201d Ms. Kiki stated.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2024 alone, the bank contributed approximately $59 million to key priorities outlined in the United Nations Cooperation Framework, including in the areas of food security, livelihood diversification, climate change, energy, and refugee assistance,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n The African Development Bank, established in 1964 with the vision of \u201cAfricans for Africa,\u201d proudly celebrated 60 years of unwavering commitment to the continent’s development.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By William Madouk African Development Bank (AfDB) commemorated its 60th anniversary in Juba, with major highlights in its transformative impact across the continent and in South Sudan. Mr. Themba Bhebhe, the AfDB Country Manager for South Sudan, recounted the bank’s origins, which began when 25 African representatives agreed to[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":33658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/African-Development-Bank-.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33657"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33659,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33657\/revisions\/33659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}