The African Development Bank will launch a carbon markets support facility for the continent, senior bank officials said on Thursday, to unlock finance for a region increasingly impacted by climate change-linked droughts and storms.

The African Development Bank is electing a new president amidst financial challenges stemming from U.S. funding cuts. This decision coincides with the bank's efforts to secure new financing sources for African development projects.

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- The African Development Bank elected Mauritanian economist Sidi Ould Tah as its next president on Thursday to steer the region's top development finance institution through difficult times amid funding cuts from the U.S. and other key partners.