African Development Fund

The African Development Fund (ADF) contributes to poverty reduction and economic and social development in the least developed African countries by providing concessional funding for projects and programs, as well as technical assistance for studies and capacity-building activities.

Frequently asked questions on the AfDB Group

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is a multilateral institution whose objective is to contribute to the sustainable economic development and social progress of the African countries that make up the AfDB’s Regional Member Countries (RMCs).
The agreement establishing the African Development Bank was signed by the member states on August 4, 1963, in Khartoum, Sudan. It came into force on September 10, 1964.
The AfDB Group comprises three entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF).
As the leading development finance institution in Africa, the AfDB’s priorities are to improve the living conditions of African populations and mobilise resources for the economic and social progress of its regional member countries, i.e. African countries. The AfDB is headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The mission of a development bank is to promote the investment of public and private capital in projects and programs that contribute to economic and social development. Consequently, the AfDB does not make individual loans, but offers project financing to public and private entities. The AfDB is one of the world’s five leading multilateral development banks, providing financial assistance to its member countries to help them achieve their development goals.
The AfDB’s primary goal is to contribute to the economic development and social progress of African countries, individually and collectively.Within this framework, the Bank’s major challenge is the socio-economic development of Africa. To this end, it seeks to stimulate and mobilise domestic and external resources, promote investment, and provide financial and technical assistance to African countries.Since 2000, the AfDB, in partnership with numerous international and development organisations including the United Nations (UN), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has been committed to assisting and supporting African countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Bank’s 82 shareholder countries include 54 African countries or regional member countries (RMCs) and 28 non-African countries or non-regional member countries, mainly from Europe, America, and Asia. Initially, only independent African states were eligible for AfDB membership. However, in response to the growing demand for investment from African countries, membership was opened to non-regional countries.
This opening, in 1982, provided additional means of financing, enabling the AfDB to contribute to the economic and social development of African countries, by granting loans on favourable terms. It also brought the expertise of the new member countries and added credibility with partners and financial markets. The Bank is rated AAA by the most prestigious international rating agencies.
However, the AfDB Group retains a strong African character, linked to its geographical origins and structure. The African continent is its sole field of intervention, and its president is always African.
The African Development Bank Group finances projects, programs and research in all sectors of economic and social activity, notably in the fields of agriculture, water, energy, private sector development, the continent’s economic integration and gender equality.
The AfDB Group is also involved in structural adjustment loans, institutional reform projects and various forms of technical assistance and public policy advice.
Over time, the AfDB Group has also extended its role to new initiatives such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
The Board of Governors is the supreme body of the Bank. Each member country is represented on the Board by a Governor and an Alternate. The Board of Governors elects the AfDB President, in a closed session open only to Governors and Alternate Governors from African and non-African member countries. The presidential candidate must be nominated by the governor of the country of which he or she is a national. He is elected for a five-year term, renewable once.
The Board of Directors is responsible for conducting the general operations of the Bank, and to this end has the right to exercise all the powers of the AfDB, except for those reserved exclusively for the Board of Governors.
The President of the AfDB is responsible for the management of the Bank, under the direction of the Board of Directors. In this respect, he is accountable for the proper implementation of the policies and directives issued by the Board of Directors.
The AfDB Group currently has over 2000 employees. While most staff are of African origin, many come from all over the world, provided they are nationals of a member country.
The AfDB’s resources come from subscriptions by member countries, borrowings on international markets, and loan repayments and income.
Its resources also come from replenishments of the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). The objective of the ADF is to provide concessional resources, i.e. with more advantageous conditions, to African countries to boost their productivity and economic growth. Its resources come directly from special contributions made by participating countries.
The NTF, set up by the Nigerian government in 1976 to help the most disadvantaged members of the AfDB, provides concessional loans at attractive interest rates.
AfDB resources and projects are intended for African countries.
These are classified into three categories, according to two criteria: (i) country creditworthiness; and (ii) GNP per capita.
The first category comprises countries that are not creditworthy to borrow from the AfDB, and whose per capita GNP is below a certain threshold. They are only eligible for concessional resources from the African Development Fund (ADF).
The second category covers countries with a per capita GNP below the operational threshold, and which are creditworthy. Known as “mixed countries”, they are eligible for ADF and AfDB resources.
The third category is made up of countries that are above the operational threshold and creditworthy. These are only eligible for AfDB window resources.
Under certain conditions, the Bank Group’s credit policy allows ADF countries to borrow non-concessional resources from the AfDB window.
The African Development Bank, like the World Bank, is one of five multilateral development banks in the world.
The other three are the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. The World Bank and the ADB have close ties of cooperation and partnership, although the latter retains complete independence.
The AfDB contributes to improving the daily lives of Africans by providing financial and technical support for projects aimed at increasing agricultural production, investing in the sustainable management of water resources, in energy projects providing access to electricity for as many people as possible, industrialising the continent with sustainable, quality jobs, and also by contributing to the economic integration of the continent’s countries, for example with projects benefiting several countries.

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