ADB chair, king Mohamed behind African unanimity

Outgoing chairman of the African Development Bank (ADB) group Omar Kabbaj said the unanimous decision of 77 African member countries to keep him on top for another five years is the result of king Mohammed VI's personal involvement.

Kabbaj told MAP his pride and gratefulness to the king who had dispatched envoys to African countries to drum support for the Moroccan candidate and said his reelection is a major success for the kingdom.

Morocco is a member of ADB board and the bank's first client. ADB figures show that in 1999, the bank approved loans to the kingdom totaling 19.60 million count units (cu) raising the total amount of credits and donations to Rabat since 1967 to 2.7 billion cu (1 cu = 1.37 usd).