(All times are in Nairobi, Kenya's local time zone.)

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Moderated by Yvonne Ndege, Former International TV Correspondent and UN Spokesperson.

[Mohamed Ould El-Ghazaouani] Following the Head of State Meeting as well as the African government in favor of the 21 event of EAA as well as of the International Association of IDA21. We are publishing the complete Communiqué called IDA Communiqué of Nairobi, which summarizes our discussion in order to bring some light on the process of the replenishment of IDA, and as well as the main that point of this Communiqué as follows. The first one, as head of state and head of government, we met in April, in Nairobi, in the Republic of Kenya, to define our priorities as well as to come up with a continental alliance in order to use efficiently the funding from the World Bank in order to meet our development programs. We were also accompanied by other leaders as the African Union Commission, different regional communities, agencies from United Nation as well as civil society. We recognize Dr. William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, as well as the Chair or the President of the World Bank Group, Mr. Ajay Banga. Two, we have recognized the excellent partnership that our country does have with the International Association Development, IDA, for the funding and the support they are providing us. IDA is providing support for 75 countries, whereby half of it are in the African continent. We are expressing our deepest gratitude to IDA, and also, we are committing ourselves to play our role in order to get an impact in terms of the development of our people. Number three, we are gathering in a moment whereby the African continent provides a wonderful opportunity for our people as well as the world. However, we have been touched by or we've been affected by a different crisis. Just after the pandemic, our countries are now coming back because of our support and also because of our youthful population, as well as the abundance of natural resources, as well as the spirit of the African continent. Four, IDA and its model has proven a good result in terms of a development. The existing architecture allowed us to access to different support packages and also to meet the need of country, especially in management conflict, as well as forced displacement regional integration, as well as a response to crisis and climate change response as well, the development of a private sector and others. IDA will remain our partner of development and one of the main resources of finding for majority of Sahelians. Five, it is urgent to invest in the economic transformation of our continent, as well as to focus on the main approach that we have identified. Let me underline the issue of human capital, invest in human capital to allow the private sector to create employment, and employment of good quality, and also the access to energy, as well as the digitalization, enhance the resilience to the climate change and also ensure to be a prosperity of our people. We have laid the foundations and we need now to recall the fruits of having a unique market, as well as to focus on regional market and any issue related to funding, as well as digitalization. Six, to meet the inspiration of our people, we need to create a cycle of knowledge, of policies, as well as investment and employment with a strong capacity in terms of implementation as well as to have good and concrete results. It's a huge enterprise that requires investment. In long terms as well as short terms, we need to work together. As a leader, it's sometimes discouraging to realize the increased demand in terms of a necessary resource in order to meet the requirement of development as well as the climate change. We will do our best in order to better invest by taking into account the issue of inclusivity as well as the issue of employment in order to stimulate the mobilizations of national resources. On the same [page], we need an increase in terms of a private investment on the African continent as well as across the world. Number seven, we also need a steady increase of financial support. IDA should at least bring more than 60 billion USD in our country during the period of IDA20 from July 2022 up to the year 2025. A strong financing will enable IDA to associate itself efficiently with our countries in order to meet the priority that we have identified in our country and in different regions, and then to come up with a common agreement. We call upon a replenishment as a solid one, a strong one for IDA21. Eight, we are looking forward for a fruitful partnership between IDA and as well as the World Bank. We are committing ourselves as head of stage, as head of government, to meet regularly and also to extend our support and enhance national capacity as well as national system and renew our commitment to transform our economy through a strong governance as well as based on economic strategic data to prioritize the development of the private sector, and also by focusing on mobilizing national resources in a transparent manner as well as an efficient manner. We need to strengthen governance as well as our willingness to respect our commitment in relation to the climate agreements in Paris. Nine, finally, we are encouraging the partners as well as donors of IDA to overcome the challenge of our century in order to avail the financial availability of IDA, as well as to have a strong constitution of resources in order to contribute, as well as to meet the sustainable objective, as well as to overcome world challenges, as well as the Africa challenges as it has been mentioned in our communique. As I have mentioned in the beginning, we will publish these integrated, the full Communiqué of IDA that the African states as well as African governments have adopted in front of all different representatives. We thank you, really thank you all. Thank you. As you have heard, we recognize that Africa plays a major role in the economical world growth. The leaders that are gathered today have shown their will to really focus on inclusive growth as well as sustainable growth in Africa in partnership with IDA. The African ambition is huge, very huge. The Communiqué that I have just read shows the collective will as well as the engagement of African leaders to implement strong solutions that we have identified. Now, I have the honor and the pleasure to invite Mr. Ajay Banga, Chair of the World Bank in order to launch the new coalition of IDA that is made of different partners from the civil society, foundations, private sector, youth, all together brought their effort in order to implement a very strong coalition for IDA, Mr. Chair.

[Ajay Banga] Thank you very much, Your Excellency. And once again, thank you to you and President Ruto and all the other Heads of State who have been here and have helped to get us on this pathway. What's on display today is unity. Leaders from across the continent have come together to find common ground in their unique aspirations. We have put focus on how these aspirations can join with a well-resourced and efficient IDA to make generational change happen, but also how these aspirations will require work to be realized. The African continent boasts a youthful, vibrant population, the fastest growing in the world. It holds vast natural resources, fertile land, and a flourishing and entrepreneurial spirit; but on the other side are a set of well-defined challenges that have too often eclipsed these blessings. That is the backdrop we face, Africa at a crossroads. The path we choose will determine the path and the future for generations to come. Do we accept the status quo? A future where millions remain trapped in poverty, where the fundamental human right of electricity is elusive, health care accessibility is inadequate, and infrastructure is insufficient to support the potential of the continent and its people? Or do we seize the opportunity to unlock that potential and usher in an era of prosperity and progress? The World Bank and its people believe that the answer is clear. Africa can and must to first chart a course towards a brighter future. This is not a pipe dream. We have seen the success stories in countries that took advantage of IDA, embraced good governance, invested in education and infrastructure, and fostered an environment where businesses can thrive. And in doing so, they have helped over the years to blaze a trail for others to follow. We began in the 1960s with Korea, South Korea, boasting a well-educated population but lacking capital and industry. China's story started later. In 1978, 770 million people in China lived on the edge of poverty, facing low economic growth due to lack of market competition and rigid policies on prices and mobility. India's path unfolded in the '90s and the 2000s. The country had to grapple with high poverty, held back by heavily regulated market markets, dominant public sector monopolies, and unbalanced trade. Today, each of these is a country on the move. Each has transitioned from an IDA borrower to an IDA donor; but their journeys have common threads and lessons that I think are relevant for all of us. All three countries saw governments playing a crucial role in creating an environment that is conducive to growth, to private sector growth, domestic and international. They provided clarity on regulatory policy, implemented those reforms to attract that investment, domestic and foreign, and fostered a competitive landscape. Each nation benefited from a significant rise in the working-age population during crucial development phases, and they invested in their people to realize that demographic dividend, and that provided a skilled and readily available workforce. Each recognized the importance of trade and competitive advantages as an engine of growth. They implemented policies to reduce barriers. They built strong domestic manufacturing and service sectors, which opened the door to rapid economic expansion. All three utilized IDA for strategic investments in education, in health care, in rural development, areas crucial for any developing nation. They are not alone. Thirty-six countries have successfully graduated from IDA. 12 of them just since 2000. That is the transformative power of development assistance done right. Looking at Africa, I can see some very promising parallels. Several African nations are experiencing economic growth and implementing reforms to attract private investment. Many share a similar demographic trajectory with a projected rise in the working-age population. Like these other challenges, Africa's countries also face their issues. Compared to the Asian tigers, private sector investment in Africa remains low. Infrastructure bottlenecks and limited access to finance further hinder growth. The headwinds of debt, climate, and conflict restrain progress. So, at this very juncture lies the promise of the kind of development effort that today has brought together government leaders, the international community, and the private sector. We all must be partners in progress. We have a mission-critical role to play, each of us, with governments leading on their own development agendas and IDA as their partner at the core of those strategies. The story of economic development is not a one-size-fits-all approach. But by understanding the journeys of successful nations and applying the lessons learned, Africa can chart its own course towards a much brighter economic future. First, invest in our people, a skilled, educated, healthy workforce, digitally savvy, including women, is the bedrock of any thriving economy. A skilled, educated, healthy workforce, digitally savvy, including women. We need to ensure that every child has access to quality education, from primary school to vocational training and beyond. We must work to make healthcare accessible to them. To confront that challenge, we're using IDA to support our goal of providing quality affordable health care to 1.5 billion people globally in five years. We just announced this in our Spring Meetings, expanding our work to new communities and broadening the scope of our services to include every stage of a person's life. Second, by building efficient and robust infrastructure. I'm going to say that does not just mean rail or roads or homes or bridges, but energy and energy infrastructure. I believe access to electricity is a fundamental human right, and I believe it is foundational to any successful development effort. Yet half the population of Africa, 600 million people, lack access to electricity; and that's why at the Spring Meetings, we announced we are working to deliver energy to 300 million Africans by 2030, 250 million with the World Bank Group, 50 million partnering with my friend Akin Adesina at the African Development Bank. Third, support job creating, value-added industries like agriculture and logistics, the warehousing and transport of that agriculture as an example, where the private sector could eventually come in to help farmers access new markets, entrepreneurs, connected customers, and young people access information and opportunity. Taking agriculture, it's an area of vast economic potential for Africa; but there are two problems. One, only 6% to 7% of the farmland is irrigated. As I said in a session earlier, 37% is that same number for Asia. Two, Africa has one of the lowest rates of fertilizer usage in the world. That leads to yields that are one-third the global average. If we focus our investment in the right fertilizer and the right soil and irrigation, we can responsibly grow crops and grow opportunity, made in Africa, for Africa, and for the world. That's the objective. We've discussed five main areas where we believe jobs, growth, and the future of Africa can come from. Energy and the downstream effects of energy, not just generation and distribution; but what it enables: Infrastructure, rail, logistics, warehousing, transport, roads, homes. Third, healthcare. Think of the primary health centers in that 1.5 billion people pledge, that will create jobs for nurses, medical technicians, doctors, PPE manufacturing, medicine manufacturing. Then agribusiness, as I just spoke to, and last but not least, tourism, an area in which Africa has already made some progress; but the opportunities are limitless. The World Bank is committed to playing its part in all of these areas. We will continue to provide financial resources, technical expertise, and policy advice. We commit to work alongside governments to help implement difficult reforms as they pursue them; but we are joined in this endeavor by an army of friends and partners from the private and advocacy sectors. In a few moments, you will hear from leaders of this unique coalition who are taking early action in support of IDA and Africa. They are essential in our push to make sure that governments have the resources and the support that they need to realize the potential we are speaking of. I'm looking forward to joining them again later this year at the big conference in Côte d’Ivoire to support the IDA21 replenishment. But the ultimate responsibility lies with Africa itself. Its leaders must embrace bold reforms, fight corruption, invest in their people. They must create an environment where creativity flourishes and innovation thrives. The future of Africa is not predetermined. It is a choice, a choice between stagnation and progress, despair and hope. Let us choose the path of greatest potential. Let's choose a brighter, more prosperous future for Africa, a future where every child has the opportunity to thrive, and count on the World Bank Group and its people to be by your side, to be the hand on your back. We commit that to you. Thank you very much. [Applause]

[Yvonne Ndege] Thank you very much, Your Excellency. President of World Bank Group, Ajay Banga. I've been asked to acknowledge the presence of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Your Excellency, Shettima Kashim. Welcome to Kenya. Let's move swiftly on. As we just heard, IDA is about partnerships, unity, and coalition. IDA21 provides a window of global opportunity. IDA Coalition brings together a community of partners, all playing their part to work together for a successful IDA21 replenishment. With that, I would like to invite now the members of the IDA Coalition who are present here today to deliver their remarks. Please allow me to first welcome Ms. Ndidi Nwuneli, President and CEO of ONE Campaign. Ndidi, if you could come to the podium. Thank you. [Music]

[Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli] Good afternoon, Your Excellencies. I'm standing on existing protocols. I'm excited to serve as an IDA champion, and we at the ONE Campaign are committed to serve on the IDA 21 Coalition, which brings together civil society, youth, and the private sector with a shared vision for a bold and transformational IDA21. I first visited Kenya when I was six years old in 1981 as a Nigerian tourist with a love for this lush and beautiful country. Every country that I've visited across Africa has shown me the beauty of our continent. Vibrant young people, entrepreneurial culture, children with hope, energy, and courage. Imagine my shock on moving to the United States when I turned 16 to learn that the face of Africa was a hungry child and that the face of poverty was a female farmer from Africa. This narrative represents the danger of a single story and one that I have fought for the past 22 years to change as an entrepreneur working across Africa, promoting agribusinesses, youth leadership, economic growth, and trade. In my role as the first African CEO of the ONE Campaign, a 20-year-old organization, I am committed to building Africa's agency, ensuring that we are speaking with one voice and working collaboratively to shape the narrative and drive growth. And to bring around the potential to bridge this gap between Africa's poverty story and our wealth creation story. IDA21 gives us the unique opportunity to do that at scale. IDA21 is also one of the best buys in development with a long track record of delivering impact, and this financing is critical for enabling our vulnerable African countries in their recovery from current challenges and supporting their development priorities. IDA gets the most out of the balance sheet and allows donors to increase their reach and development impact. Every one dollar, as we've heard today, in donor funding contributes and generates 3.5 dollars in financing. This is value for money. IDA's support is grounded in countries' needs, their priorities, and performance, putting IDA countries in the driver's seating shaping their destiny. Such an ownership is critical for durable progress. IDA21 will be transformative for three main reasons, but first we have to make those commitments. First, for the World Bank and African President, transparency and accountability must become the hallmark of IDA in Africa. This requires clear milestones, robust communication, and consistent citizenship engagement, which will build the much-needed trust that we need for these funds to be used. Our work at the ONE campaign is grounded on boosting African agency in global decision-making, and we're collaborating with African partners, civil society, to make this a priority. We're going to be engaging our ONE activists across the world, especially in our African countries, to join the efforts to hold our government accountable, to utilize the IDA funding to deliver impact on the ground. Secondly, IDA donors, we need you to step up. We are very clear-eyed about the challenges that you're currently facing, the political hand winds in your country; but we need you to recognize that this is a critical time to partner with Africa, and we need you to increase your commitments by at least 25% so that IDA21 will meaningfully break the 120-billion-dollar mark. Now, Africa's civil society and private sector. IDA is different because civil society and private sector will be there working alongside government and the World Bank to deliver impact. We at ONE have witnessed at first-hand what decision-makers can do if we work collaboratively to surmount challenges. We need decisive action. We need resolute leadership. Now is the time to work together to achieve that. I'm more convinced than ever before when I was six-year-old child, that we, Africa, must change that narrative. I recognize that as humans, we're often jaded, and some adults in the room say, “We've seen it all.” But as Africans, we can choose either hope or fear. And I choose hope. In spite of the climate change, the debt, the economic crisis, the civil unrest, I choose hope, and I encourage you to join me in choosing hope. I'm more convinced today that because of our collective commitments to transformation, that in our lifetime, we will change the face of Africa from a hungry child to a successful female entrepreneur. There's an African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go with others.” We have no choice but to go fast and far together. To do that, we need to work with excellence, integrity, courage, and boldness, leaving our egos, our logos, and flags at the door, and committing to leave Africa better than we found it. Thank you so much. [Applause]

[Yvonne Ndege] Thank you very much, Ndidi, for your remarks. We do have more coalition champions to hear from; but I'm going to ask extremely politely, those of you who still have remarks to make, please, please try to summarize into one minute because we truly are out of time. Allow me to welcome Ms. Sellah Bogonko, youth influencer, Co-Founder and CEO of Jacob's Ladder Africa, representing the all-important cross-section of African youth. Sellah, please. Thank you. [Music]

[Sellah Bogonko] Your Excellencies, development partners, ladies and gentlemen. I had a three-minute speech, but I'll summarize it with my last statement, which I think and hope will communicate my heart and the hearts of many African youth and what they would love, especially, our African leaders, to hear. Africa stands in a David and Goliath battleground, facing a myriad of challenges which together can seem insurmountable. You stand, our leaders, as generals leading this army; but the truth is, 60% of your army stands behind you, unequipped and therefore helpless. We urge you to take this moment that could be the pivot that Africa needs to empower your foot soldiers so that together we can realize a common shared prosperity. This is why as young people, we're not merely asking you what you can do, the various things that have been listed here today. We're availing ourselves so that we can co-create the solutions that need to be created specifically for young people. One in particular that I must mention is a system’s change approach to development that allows for job creation being mapped within all the projects while skilling the continent's workforce. All we need is your goodwill, your leadership, and your resolve. I thank you. [Applause]

[Yvonne Ndege] Thank you, Sellah, for those remarks. Please, allow me to invite, everyone, who's somebody well known to us, Mr. James Mwangi, CEO of Equity Group. You're welcome to the stage. Let's give him a round of applause, please. Thank you. [Music]

[James Mwangi] Your Excellences, African Heads of State, the World Bank President and your leadership team. It's a pleasure for the private sector to be given a chance. The private sector is a partner to the public sector, and of course, the government. We acknowledge and applaud the support the African public sector is being given. It develops the infrastructure that creates an enabling environment for the private sector. It invests in soft infrastructure like education and health, and will enhance the productivity of the African continent. But it will be necessary, Mr. President, to boost the capability of the private sector in two aspects. The private sector sweats and utilizes the infrastructure that is built with public funds, and that is the only way that you can enhance the return on the infrastructure being built in the African continent. We need the young population being educated to get jobs. The jobs are coming from the SMEs. The SMEs need to access funding. Private sector can provide funding, but SMEs require blended finance, and IDA would be a huge partner for the private financing. Secondly, the supporting the private sector leads to an integrated development approach, where you are developing from the primary sector and the citizens themselves become active participants through private sector leading. Lastly, the private sector, together with the donor community, together with the philanthropists, could use the support of IDA as a blended finance to ensure inclusion. Nobody should be left behind as Africa transforms. This essentially then helps in derisking and capacitating those at the bottom of the pyramid. Lastly, is to thank IDA, the World Bank Group, for listening to the voice of Africa. Africa knows what matters most, what the priorities are. With listening to the voices of Africa, IDA's facts can only be more relevant to the needs of Africa. Thank you very much, your excellencies.

[Yvonne Ndege] Thank you, James Mwangi. I would now like to welcome on stage Nir Bar Dea, CEO of Bridgewater Associates. Welcome to the stage. [Applause]

[Nir Bar Dea] Thank you. It's amazing to be here, and thank you for having us. A special thank you to President Ruto and the government of Kenya for hosting all of us in your amazing country. Also, my thoughts go out to all the people impacted by the recent natural disasters. Also, good to see my friend Ajay Banga, the Head of the World Bank, and also thank you and the World Bank for your efforts, and recognize all of the distinguished African Heads of State who have gathered here today. It's a privilege to add our support to the work that so many of you are doing to realize the potential of the African continent; but if you let me take a step back for a minute. For nearly 50 years, Bridgewater has been mapping out the cause-and-effect linkages that underpin the world's economies and markets. This includes short term impacts like credit cycles, but also very critical long-term effects like deleveraging, like productivity changes. That systematic mapping helps us understand where the world is likely headed, which we use to advise our clients and to manage portfolios of over 100 billion dollars; but more importantly, having a sense of where the world is likely headed also helps us see how different policy decisions could send the world down very, very different paths. That's why I'm here today. The dramatic long-term changes in Africa will be some of the most consequential factors in shaping what the world looks like over the next 50 years. The changes that will happen are inevitable. How those will impact the world is a complete choice. The decisions the policymakers make in the coming months will determine the outcome of that choice. Let me take a minute to just describe how we see things. Today, an eighth of the world's working-age population lives in sub-Saharan Africa. That's a little bit under 700 million people. If you look ahead, Africa's population is going to boom, growing by 30% each decade, at the same time that the entire basically the rest of the world has a population decline. That means that three quarters of the world's working age population growth will come from the African continent. As a result, in my lifetime, a third of the overall working age population in the world will be here on the continent. This changes the reality, and it means that the continent will have a massive levered effect on what the world will look like. If this increase in population corresponds with a significant increase in productivity, like Ajay just described, we will activate untapped human potential that will spur a huge source of growth for the entire world. If, however, we continue down the current path and the continent and the world will be destabilized, with global inequality rapidly growing, many more people in the continent in the most critical age brackets, in the area most impacted by climate change, we've just heard from several leaders describing that today, will not have the opportunity to realize their individual and collective potential. To make this manageable, Ajay talked about 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, that's half of the population that don't have access to electricity today. In some countries, that number is 25 % and the rest of the world, that number is 90 %. So, let's just be clear, shrinking population in one side of the world, facing the biggest productivity boom of a generation with artificial intelligence and in machine learning. While at the same time, here in this part of the world, the booming population is facing a productivity stagnation, largely cut off from the most basic ways of advancement. This will impact everyone on and off the continent and to avoid that train wreck and to harvest a huge population in Africa, instead of the net outflows, we need to dramatically increase the investments in education and infrastructure in health care in the continent now. Bridgewater was excited to partner with Heads of State, and Ajay Bank and the World Bank, with Global Citizen, with other great investors and economists to help understand the issues and make good decisions. I look forward to seeing many of you later this year to discuss and to move this subject forward. Thank you very much.

[Yvonne Ndege] Thank you very much, Ner. Lastly, I would like to call on stage Mr. Hugh Evans, founder and CEO of Global Citizen. Mr. Evans, welcome to the stage. Please, keep your remarks to the minimum, if possible. Thank you.

[Hugh Evans] Thank you. Good afternoon, Your Excellencies. It's an honor to be with you today in beautiful Nairobi, I'd like to especially thank His Excellency President Ruto for hosting us, and I'd also like to acknowledge the President of the World Bank Group, Mr. Ajay Banga. My name is Hugh Evans, and I'm the Co-Founder and CEO of Global Citizen, the world's largest movement of citizens taking action for the eradication of extreme poverty now. I'm here today with our partners, Nir Bar Dea of Bridgewater Associates, to share our support for IDA. Global Citizens' work on the continent began in 2018 when we hosted Mandela 100 in Johannesburg, where we brought Beyoncé and Jay Z and 500,000 Global Citizens to Johannesburg, South Africa, to celebrate the life and legacy of Madiba. This first campaign brought five African Heads of State to Johannesburg and ultimately mobilized 7.4 billion dollars in the fight to eradicate extreme poverty. Since then, we've been honored to be welcomed by the governments of Ghana, Nigeria, and Rwanda, who've supported the expansion of Global Citizen across the continent. Now there are over 500,000 global citizens who have taken more than 8 million actions for the eradication of extreme poverty. Today, marks a significant new chapter in our efforts in our partnership with the continent. And over the last two years, we've met with Heads of State across the continent, including President Chakwera of Malawi, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Akufo-Addo of Ghana, and President Masisi of Botswana, and our host, His Excellency President Ruto. In all of these meetings, we've seen a common theme, and that common theme has been the massive population shift that we see across the continent and the need, as Nir Bar Dea just said, for urgent public investment to ensure this booming population is an asset for the continent and for the world. That's why I'm honored today to announce that Bridgewater Associates and Global Citizen will host an economic summit on October 9th and 10th in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and we are grateful for the support of His Excellency Alassane Ouattara, President of Côte d'Ivoire, represented by the Prime Minister, Robert Beugré Mambé, as we gather Heads of State, finance ministers, private sector leaders, and civil society, all to support the IDA21 replenishment. Thank you, your Excellencies, for the opportunity to share this announcement with you today. We look forward to seeing many of you in Abidjan on October 9th and 10th. Thank you. [Applause]

[Yvonne Ndege] Thank you very much, Hugh. On that note, let's give the IDA Champions a round of applause. Thank you. [Applause]

[Yvonne Ndege] Now we are going to move to a photo session. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to invite our Heads of States onto the stage. I believe I'm going to be given assistance and help by protocol persons. We would like to invite our Heads of States. If you're not a Head of State, you don't come up to the front for this photo opportunity, with the help of Michael and chief of protocols. If you could, please, Heads of States, just come towards the steps here so we can get this photo, and then we're going to have closing remarks from His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Kenya. [Music]

[Yvonne Ndege] Please, look out for them as they gather. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [Music] [Yvonne Ndege] Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Heads of States, if you could please return to your seats. I would ask humbly, His Excellency, President William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya to remain on stage. I'm going to hand over to His Excellency to give some closing remarks.

[William Ruto] Let me once again, register my profound appreciation for your gracious acceptance of my invitation for attending this very crucial Summit. The Nairobi IDA Communiqué, which we adopted today, outlines the pressing developmental imperatives of Africa and our state first commitment to transformative progress building upon the outcomes of the Africa Climate Summit. Let us have a moment of reflection. In September 1973, Kenyatta International Convention Center, the building where we are today, was opened and it hosted the first Annual Meeting of the World Bank and IMF in Africa. Robert McNamara was the World Bank President at the time, and he emphasized poverty, eradication, and elimination of inequality. Today, 50 years later, we stand in the same venue, joined by the President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, to convene for the IDA21 Replenishment Summit continuing our collective effort in the fight against poverty and inequality. The escalating debt burdens compounded by the impact of climate change and the economic scars of COVID-19 pandemic underscore the necessity for accessible, affordable, and long-term financing, the primary discussion of our conversation today. The imperative and urgency of achieving replenishment target of at least US$120 billion cannot be overstated. I extend my heartfelt appreciation to my friend, Mr. Ajay Banga, the President of the World Bank Group for his exemplary leadership and unwavering dedication to reforming the Bank to effectively address the myriad global challenges and advance the developmental aspirations of Africa and other developing nations. I thank my colleagues, Heads of State, for their stewardship and leadership in taking us through the conversation and getting us to this point. Even as we advocate for a robust IDA21 replenishment as African Heads of State, we also call for a strong replenishment of the Africa Development Fund Group, the forthcoming 17th replenishment of the ADF should be doubled to 25 billion per replenishment cycle, thereby facilitating greater levels of concessional financing to its 37 low-income member countries, which will also complement IDA. I want to thank Ajay for working with [Akinwumi] Adesina on this subject. With utmost humility, I extend my sincere gratitude to Your Excellencies for your active and resolute engagement. On behalf of all of us, I extend my appreciation to the President of the World Bank once again for his steadfast commitment and standing in solidarity with Africa and developing our region as we collectively champion the journey towards climate resilience and green industrialization. Ladies and gentlemen, Excellencies, I thank you. [Applause]

[Yvonne Ndege] A round of applause for His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Kenya, William Samoei Ruto.