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Nazrin Abdul

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will be hosting its 34th Annual Meeting and Business Forum in London next week under the banner of “Expanding Horizons, Enduring Strengths”.

Usually held across the EBRD regions, this year's event marks the Annual Meeting’s return to its host city for the first time since 2016 and its debut in the Bank’s new Canary Wharf headquarters.

The event, which takes place between 13-15 May, will assemble the Bank’s shareholders, partners, and clients, including government officials, financial and corporate executives, entrepreneurs, civil society, and media from across its regions.

The Bank was set up in 1991, with London as its home, to build open market economies and promote private enterprise, and with sustainable development as one of its core values. Almost 80 per cent of its investments have been in the private sector.

It has also moved into new countries neighbouring its existing regions on several occasions.

According to the report by the bank, this year’s meeting will see the EBRD’s Governors take several milestone decisions. At their plenary session on Thursday, 15 May, they will be asked to approve the Bank’s next Strategic and Capital Framework, setting out its strategic direction for the next five years.

They will also be asked to approve EBRD country of operations status for Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria, marking the beginning of the Bank's move into sub-Saharan Africa.

The Board of Governors’ opening session for the event will take place at Westminster Central Hall on Wednesday, 14 May. The Chair of the Board of Governors, Slovenia’s Klemen Boštjančič, and EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso will deliver speeches at the session.

As well as the Annual Meeting’s institutional business, the Business Forum will hold multiple events over the three days, featuring high-profile guest speakers.

These include a high-level event on Ukraine and a wide range of panels on the role of international financial institutions in a changing world, capital mobilisation, industrial policy, water security, and Africa’s potential in critical raw materials, among many others.

Several countries where the EBRD works will also be holding investment outlook sessions.

A central focus of the discussions will be the bank's continuous support to Ukraine through wartime and subsequently, its recovery and reconstruction.

Further to the report, the EBRD has deployed €7 billion in Ukraine’s real economy (€2.4 billion of it in the energy sector) since the start of

Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, and is ready to do even more to support its future reconstruction.

On Tuesday, 13 May, the Bank will also release its Regional Economic Prospects report, announcing its latest growth forecasts for its regions.