Following the 56th Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the 47th meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund, the Group's President, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, proposed the establishment of an African Stability Mechanism modelled on the European model.

According to the statement that sanctioned the work, the bank should strengthen its support to African countries in the face of the economic and health impacts of the pandemic. To this end, President Adesina affirmed that the AfDB will invest heavily in the pharmaceutical industry for the manufacture of vaccines on the continent. The AfDB President promised to strengthen health systems, noting that only 51% of public health facilities had water and basic sanitation facilities, and 31% had electricity. It should be noted that the 2021 Annual Meetings were held in virtual mode and were marked by closed meetings of the bank's governors and public discussions around the themes of health care in Africa, African debt sustainability and climate change.