President of the African Development Bank Group has described the death of the former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, as a great loss to the African continent.

According to Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, the former Prime Minister gave the African Development Bank a prominent place in Japanese foreign policy.

"Shinzo Abe’s death is a huge loss to Japan and to the world," Dr Adesina said In a statement copied to JoyNews' Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen.

He explained that the $3 billion Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa (EPSA-3) and $3.5 billion EPSA-4 agreements for co-financing in Africa were signed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the African Development Bank, increasing investments in the continent's infrastructure and private sector.

He indicated it is to Shinzo Abe's credit that the G20 coined the phrase "quality infrastructure" and mainstreamed it into global infrastructure financing.

Dr. Adesina added that Shinzo Abe's outstanding leadership helped to forge closer ties than ever before between Japan and Africa. "We shall be forever obliged to the lasting contributions Shinzo Abe gave to our continent."

During the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-6) in 2016, Dr. Adesina noted he had the privilege of huddling together with him and several heads of state, to help find a way to provide Africa with access to Japanese cleaner energy sources.

The result of that meeting, according to him, was an invitation to visit him in Tokyo and a subsequent decision by the Japanese Government to provide a major clean energy financing facility to Africa.

During the 30th Anniversary of the Sasakawa Foundation in 2016 in Tokyo, Mr. Abe graced the occasion and delivered a moving and memorable speech about the importance of food security in Africa.

"We met again in 2019, at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron during the Biarritz G7 leaders summit. As always, he was keenly supportive of the African Development Bank’s efforts to support African women through the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative (AFAWA), for which the G7 subsequently helped to raise $450 million, with a goal to mobilize $5 billion for women in Africa."

According to Dr. Adesina, Mr. Abe was a gentleman, a kind and forward-thinking leader who fought for a better and more peaceful world.