– A recognition to Gapi-SI as the best-performing DFI (Development Finance Institution) in Africa was awarded by the AADFI – African Association of Development Finance Institutions, during its General Assembly in South Korea.
The AADFI Chairman, Patrick Dlamine, who is also the CEO of DBSA (Development Bank of Southern Africa), presented the award to Gapi’s CFO, Anabela Mucavele, underlining that the development challenge of Africa is to increase the number of financial institutions with better performance and governance. The award ceremony was held in parallel with the annual meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB), which was hosted by the South Korean Government in Busan, the second largest city in that Asian country. The ceremony was attended by 60 financial institutions from Africa and Asia.
On receiving the prize, Anabela Mucavele said on behalf of Gapi: “this statement fills us with pride because it is the result of a hard work that has been done for 28 years, in which the combined effort of shareholders, managers and workers, should be praised. This recognition is more than a prize, it is a motivating and challenging fact for us to increase our efforts to improve our actions so that the strategy advocated by AfDB and AADFI succeeds in Mozambique.”
The major issues addressed in this AADFI Assembly were aligned with the AfDB strategy, which advocates the acceleration of industrialization in Africa; development of infrastructures; education and training of young people, use of renewable energy to accelerate electrification and development; and the widespread use of new information and communication technologies. In discussions on the implementation of this African development strategy, a number of stakeholders emphasized the need for better recognition and accreditation by African governments of the role of national development finance institutions.
The AADFI is an Association established in 1975 under the auspices of the African Development Bank, which has been assisting its members to improve i) governance, ii) financial performance and iii) operational capacity. It was in the light of these three criteria that, once again, this year, Gapi-SI obtained an assessment of around 85%, which gives a “rating A” to the Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in Africa.
