African Development Bank

Founded in 1964, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and comprises three entities: The African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund. On a mission to fight poverty and improve the lives of Africans through promoting the investment of public and private capital in projects and programs that contribute to the economic and social development of the continent, the African Development Bank is a financial provider to African governments and private companies investing in the Bank’s regional member countries. The Bank has 81 shareholders including 27 non-African countries.


The African Development Bank Group is overseen by the Boards of Executive Directors who are elected by the Boards of Governors of the Bank Group and are made up of representatives of its member countries. The shareholding of the Bank is 60%-40% between regional member countries and non-regional member countries respectively. Nigeria is the largest shareholder of the Bank.. All shareholders are represented on the Board of Executive Directors by 20 Board Members. Since 2015, the African Development Bank has been led by Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina as President and Chairman of the Boards of Directors of the Bank Group. Dr. Adesina was unanimously re-elected for a second five-year term in 2020.


On commencement of his first term, Dr. Adesina introduced the Bank’s highly successful High-5 agenda to Light Up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the Quality of Life of the People of Africa. The High-5 agenda builds on the Bank Group’s 2013-2022 strategy, which fosters inclusive growth and the transition to green growth. The High-5 agenda emphasizes the Bank Group’s development priorities. These priorities are consistent with the United Nations agenda on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since the High-5 agenda was launched, more than 335 million people across Africa have benefitted from the Bank Group’s strategic interventions under the program.


With Dr. Adesina at the helm, the African Development Bank Group achieved the highest capital increase since its establishment in 1964 when in 2019, shareholders from 80 member countries raised the general capital from $93 billion to a historic $208 billion. The African Development Bank Group responded boldly and swiftly to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, the premier development finance institution launched a landmark $3 billion Covid-19 Social Bond on the global capital markets, which was the largest U.S. dollar denominated social bond in world history. In addition, the Bank launched a $10 billion Crisis Response Facility to support African countries. In recognition of the institution’s impressive achievements, prestigious U.S. magazine Global Finance named the African Development Bank as the “Best Multilateral Financial Institution in the world for 2021”.

Purpose

The overarching objective of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction.

Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina

Akinwumi Adesina

President, African Development Bank

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Summary

The African Development Bank Group has set an ambitious target of allocating at least 40% of its annual investments as climate finance from 2021-2025 and ensuring that at least 50% of its climate finance resources are invested in adaptation.

Activities & Initiatives

Africa’s green and resilient agenda is integrated in the African Development Bank Group’s Ten-Year Strategy and High 5 agenda. The Bank Group is particularly committed to enhancing its climate action and strengthening adaptation and resilience, by setting a specific target for achieving parity between adaptation finance and mitigation finance. The Bank Group is providing climate finance climate actions in Africa, mainstreaming climate change into its development projects and programs, and supporting upstream climate change and green growth measures through technical assistance and capacity building. This support will be delivered through the Bank Group’s annual lending programs and mobilization of climate finance resources.

Measures & Targets

Since the entry into force of the Paris Agreement in 2016, the African Development Bank Group has increased its climate finance from 9% of its annual investments in 2016 to 34% in 2020. Further, over the last 3 years, the Bank Group has allocated nearly 50% of its climate finance resources to adaptation in 2018, followed by 55% in 2019 and 63% in 2020. Moving forward, the Bank Group will allocate at least 40% of its annual investments as climate finance, and at least 50% of its climate finance resources in adaptation from 2021 to 2025. The African Development Bank Group has committed to commit $25 billion to climate finance by 2025. The African Development Bank together with the Global Center for Adaptation have set the target to also mobilize an additional $12.5 billion in climate finance by 2025.

SDG Focus Area(s):

Summary

By 2026, the African Development Bank Group will unlock $3 billion in financing for women-owned and managed businesses in Africa through the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA).

Activities & Initiatives

AFAWA’s primary objective is to bridge the existing $42 billion financing gap for women owned and managed businesses in Africa to unlock their entrepreneurial capacity and full potential. AFAWA is unique as it offers a multi-dimensional approach to remove the constraints women entrepreneurs face in accessing funding and growing their businesses. AFAWA leverages the Bank Group’s financial instruments (lines of credit, trade finance, and equity investments) and an innovative de-risking mechanism to enhance financial institutions’ appetite to lend to women. AFAWA financial mechanisms receive technical assistance to ensure that the right products and services are developed to address women’s financial needs, and that women have the necessary knowledge and skills to increase their bankability. Moreover, given the importance of an inclusive, enabling environment to strengthen women’s ability to grow, AFAWA also works closely with governments to address the policy and reforms required to enhance the financial inclusion of women entrepreneurs.

Measures & Targets

By enhancing financial institutions’ knowledge of the women’s market and their appetite to lend to women as well as by increasing the bankability of women owned and managed businesses the Bank Group will unlock $3 billion dollars in financing for this market segment by 2026.

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