AFDB Says Initial Steps Taken to Restart Eritrea Relations

(Bloomberg) -- The African Development Bank and Eritrea have taken initial steps to restart relations that could lead to a resumption of lending.

How long that process takes will depend on the government of the East African nation, Kapil Kapoor, the AfDB's southern Africa director-general who previously worked with the country, told reporters in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The lender is excited by the rapprochement between Eritrea and its neighbor Ethiopia and it sees investment opportunities in Eritrea, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said.

Eritrea signed a peace deal with its much bigger neighbor that ended a two-decade stalemate following one of Africa's worst conflicts. Fighting from 1998 to 2000 claimed as many as 100,000 lives and left thousands of families divided on both sides of the border. After years of isolation the country is beginning to engage with potential investors.

Adesina, who is in South Africa for the AfDB's annual conference, said its working with banks to arrange a $600 million loan to rehabilitate Ghana's cocoa industry.

To contact the reporter on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net

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