Asian Development Bank

New ADB fund to expand Private sector operations in frontier markets

ADB Frontier will target small investments in companies with strong potential to generate growth, employment, and climate action, and to empower women and girls.

“ADB Frontier is a meaningful scaling up of ADB’s private sector operations in frontier market countries facing unique development challenges,” said ADB Director General for Private Sector Operations Suzanne Gaboury.

ADB tips 'broad-based recovery' across entire Pacific this year

This is according to the bank's Asian Development Outlook of April 2023.

ADB director-general for the Pacific, Leah Gutierrez, said the signs were good but warned about some potential hurdles.

"A broad-based recovery across the Pacific is now on the horizon as the impact of the pandemic recedes and economies reopen," she said.

"But this recovery faces several headwinds, including structural risks from disaster impacts and climate change.

Samoa, ADB sign US $10 million grant agreement

Minister of Finance, Mulipola Anarosa Ale-Molioo signed the agreement on behalf of Samoa this week.

The ADB was represented by Aaron Batten, the Regional Director of the ADB Pacific Subregional Office (SPSO) in Suva, where he oversees the delivery of ADB operations in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu.

The grant assistance is a contingency disaster financing – a standby budget support that can only be triggered and disbursed to support and respond to shocks caused by natural disasters and health emergencies.

Samoa to receive $10 USD million from ADB for contingent disaster financing

Other countries that will benefit from these grants are Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Tonga. 

According to a statement from ADB, the support comes from the fourth phase of the Pacific Disaster Resilience Programme and will provide Kiribati with an $8 million grant, Samoa with a $10 million grant, Solomon Islands with a $5 million grant and a $5 million loan, and Tonga a $10 million grant.

All four countries have made strong progress on building the resilience of their institutions, which build on the previous phases of the programme.

ADB provides $10 million grant to help Samoa manage Covid-19

Samoa continues to battle a surge in the domestic transmission of the virus.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed 13 Covid-19-related deaths since the first case was detected at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole National Hospital on 17 March 2022.

The total cumulative number of COVID-19 cases, from border and community cases, stands at about 7,185.

ADB, Australia help strengthen Public Financial Management in Pacific

ADB is providing US$2 million and Australia US$390,000 (in equivalent AUD$500,000) in additional financing to the program which was established in June 2020 to support the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu.

“The additional financing from the Government of Australia is highly appreciated and will be used to expand the scope of the assistance to Fiji where reforms will focus on strengthening public financial management practices in Fiji,” said Regional Director of ADB’s Pacific Subregional Office in Fiji Masayuki Tachiiri.

ADB launches digital health guide for Pacific

 The Digital Health Implementation Guide for the Pacific sets out a clear pathway for countries seeking to implement and invest in digital health. The primary audiences for the user-friendly guide are Pacific health managers and those working in information and communication technology in the health sector.

ADB has five-year urban development plan for Pacific

It has a road map which identifies major constraints for the delivery of urban services in the Pacific, including fragile economies, limited public land and capacity issues.

The bank also found women and girls having less access to services and resources.

The road map will be used to guide, among other things, the design and implementation of sustaining urban services, such as water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and waste management.

It will also improve spatial planning and help prepare for climate change including flood and drought management.

     

ADB highlights need to maintain stimulus and support for Samoa's tourism-dependent economy

The Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2021, ADB’s flagship annual economic analysis, projects the economies of the Cook Islands, Samoa, and Tonga will continue to decline in 2021 with economic contraction and fiscal deficits deepening.

The report predicts the resumption of international travel will see gross domestic product (GDP) growth return to positive in each country in 2022, but their economies will still be smaller than before the outbreak of the pandemic.

ADB tips Pacific return to growth in 2021

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) says Pacific member economies contracted by 5.8 percent in 2020 due to Covid-19 but it forecasts a recovery by year's end.

The ADB tips 1.4 percent growth but notes that is contingent on a return of tourism, a start of delayed construction, and the resumption of labour mobility and international trade.

But the bank's Pacific economist Rommel Rabanal said not every country will return to growth and that there are ongoing risks.