The Embassy of the Kingdom of Lesotho in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Permanent Mission to the African Union has congratulated the Government and people of Ethiopia on the successful launch of the Lafto International Standard Hospital, describing the development as a significant milestone in Ethiopia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen healthcare systems and improve access to quality medical services.

The Embassy noted that the establishment of the modern health facility reflects Ethiopia’s growing leadership, innovation, and commitment to advancing public health and people-centred development on the African continent. Speaking on the occasion, Lesotho’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent

Representative to the African Union, Ambassador Ntšiuoa SEKETE, commended Ethiopia for what she described as “a visionary investment in the health and well-being of its people.”

EIB Global, the European Investment Bank’s development arm, has committed €10 million for a technical assistance programme aimed at supporting sub-Saharan African countries develop national health projects that can attract wider domestic and international financing. Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia and Zambia are the first four African countries to join this programme.

The technical assistance aims to accelerate investments in primary healthcare and progress towards universal health coverage by strengthening the planning, prioritisation and design of relevant projects. The assistance is being offered through an initiative of EIB Global, Islamic Development Bank and World Health Organisation known as the Health Impact Investment Platform (HIIP). The three institutions together are providing an initial €30 million to support technical assistance and capacity building and aim to attract more funding for health projects.

“Our partnership with global partners to support Africa’s health illustrates what coordinated action can achieve when public and private actors work together around nationally defined priorities,” said EIB Vice-President Marek Mora. “By joining forces, multilateral development banks, global health organisations and philanthropic partners can help reduce risks, crowd in private capital and align investment with local needs and priorities as well as broader initiatives such as global health policies.”

Africa’s economies are projected to grow at 4.2 percent in 2026, moderating slightly from 4.4 percent in 2025, before rebounding to 4.4 percent in 2027. The findings of the 2026 African Economic Outlook, released Tuesday at the African Development Bank Group Annual Meetings in Brazzaville, underscore the continent’s continued resilience in the face of geopolitical tensions, tighter global financial conditions, and supply chain disruptions.

According to the Bank’s flagship report, Africa’s growth in 2025 was supported by improved macroeconomic management, stronger agricultural output, elevated commodity prices, and ongoing structural reforms. The continent remains among the world’s fastest-growing regions, with 22 countries projected to grow above 5 percent in 2025.

Published under the theme, Mobilizing Africa’s Development Financing at Scale in a Fragmented World, the report notes that sustaining faster, inclusive and more resilient growth would require a decisive shift towards mobilising and deploying capital at scale. This includes strengthening domestic resource mobilisation, deepening and integrating financial systems, expanding capital markets, and enhancing African agency in global finance.

As delegates gather at the Kintélé Conference Centre this week for the African Development Bank Group’s 2026 Annual Meetings, convened under the theme “Mobilising Africa’s Development Financing at Scale,” the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) is pressing a sharper question on the Bank: not how much finance is mobilised, but who it serves — and whether the assumptions behind it hold up at all.

Two recent AFSA studies — a portfolio analysis of the Bank’s agricultural financing from 2019 to 2025, and a closer look at the 40 Dakar 2 “Feed Africa” country compacts — find that the Bank has become one of Africa’s most influential agricultural financiers, channelling billions into value chains, agro-industrial zones and large agribusinesses, while support for the diversified, farmer-led systems that feed most of the continent remains marginal. A third study, by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of the Western Cape, goes further — dismantling the very narrative of “idle” and “available” land on which the Feed Africa agenda rests.