The African Development Bank has put in place health and safety measures to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus in countries where it has a presence, including its headquarters in Abidjan.
The measures include telecommuting, videoconferencing instead of physical meetings, the suspension of visits to bank buildings, and the cancelation of all travel, meetings, and conferences, until further notice.
Bank President Akinwumi Adesina made the announcements at a virtual Town Hall meeting from the institution’s headquarters in Abidjan. He states that the measures were being taken in the best interest of public health and safety.
Adesina says all efforts are being made to ensure continuity of the bank’s operations including electronic documentation and approvals.
All bank staff worked from home on Wednesday to test-run IT systems.
The bank has already taken several other steps to counter an escalation of the virus, including a 14-day self-quarantine for employees returning from high-risk countries.
Other multilateral institutions in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. have taken similar actions to prevent the spread of the virus.