African Development Bank Group to unlock significant additional resources for low income countries – Adesina

African Development Bank Group to unlock significant additional resources for low income countries – Adesina

Bank Group draws curtain on 2023 Annual Meetings with a call for action to do more for Africa; Governors give Bank all-clear to tap capital market, using resources from concessional ADF window.

The Board of Governors of the African Development Bank Group has approved management’s request to leverage the equity of the African Development Fund, to mobilize more resources on the capital markets. The Fund is the Bank’s concessional lending window.

“When fully implemented, the Bank Group could unlock up to $27 billion to help low-income and fragile states,” Bank Group president Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said on Friday.

“What this means is that when this is launched, we can raise an additional $4 billion or even more per cycle [every three years] for these least developed low-income countries,” Adesina said during the official closing ceremony of the Bank Group’s 2023 Annual Meetings in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

With nearly half its recipient countries classified as fragile states, the African Development Fund contributes to poverty reduction and socioeconomic development in those countries by providing concessional funding for their projects and programs. Nine of the ten world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change are in Sub-Saharan Africa and rely on the resources of the Fund.

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