African Development Bank and African Guarantee Fund Launch AFAWA Finance Series in collaboration with Tanzania Bankers’ Association
The African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative kicked off the first AFAWA Finance Series in collaboration with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) and the Tanzania Bankers’ Association this week in Dar es Salaam.
The opening day on Tuesday 26 July 2022 drew over 200 representatives from banks and other financial institutions, governments, policymakers, and entrepreneurs in Tanzania for two days of exploring opportunities to reduce the $42 billion financing gap for women-led small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Invest in Africa, African Development Bank chief urges investors at U.S.-Africa Business Summit
The President of the African Development Bank Group Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has given strong assurance to U.S. investors that Africa is a secure, competitive and profitable market for investment.
Adesina was speaking on Wednesday at the U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Marrakech where he told American investors to see Africa as a logical investment destination and to engage with the continent in win-win partnerships.
He said U.S. investments were critical for accelerating infrastructure development on the continent. “This is an opportune time for American investments in Africa, at scale,” Adesina said. “Tomorrow cannot wait. Africa’s time is now. Africa’s future is bright. We are open for business, and we welcome you with wide open arms.”
African Development Bank approves Risk Participation Agreement with Crédit Agricole CIB to stimulate intra-African trade
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a Risk Participation Agreement of $50 million with Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank.
The deal will enable African banks and their small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients to participate more in regional and international trade. It aims to support a cumulative trade transaction volume of $450 million over the next three years.
“This agreement strengthens confidence among various African actors to encourage a new trade dynamic on the continent,” said Mohamed El Azizi, the African Development Bank’s Director General for North Africa. “And this is crucial for the realization of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which will help to build resilience, generate growth and promote a recovery that creates opportunities and jobs.”
Egypt: African Development Bank approves USD 271 million for the Food Security and Economic Resilience Support Program
The African Development Bank Board of Directors approved a loan of USD 271 million to finance Egypt’s Food Security and Economic Resilience Support Program to support efforts to mitigate the impact of the global shocks on the domestic economy from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and to preserve resilience.
The program includes two major components: Support for the Food Security Response and Build Private Sector and Fiscal Resilience.
The first component seeks to increase national agricultural productivity and mitigate food security risks for people in vulnerable situations. The program will support broad-based growth by increasing agricultural productivity and sustainability by setting additional incentives to encourage local farmers to grow wheat and increasing their share of subsidized fertilizers.
Nigeria: African Development Bank Board approves $134 million loan to boost local food production
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group on Friday approved a $134 million loan for the National Agriculture Growth Scheme – Agro Pocket program in Nigeria to scale up food production and boost livelihood resilience.
The program will support fast-tracking of the implementation of key policy and institutional reforms and boost private sector participation in agriculture. This will help increase cereals and oil grains production by 7 million tonnes to 35 million tonnes. It will also increase average cereal yields from 1.42 tonnes to 2 tonnes per hectare during the September 2022-December 2023 implementation period.
The program aligns with the Bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility and will support Nigeria’s efforts to mitigate the impacts of the war in Ukraine. Food prices have been rising rapidly due to higher volatility caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, aggravated by the war.
African Development Bank approves $175 million Regional Trade Finance Funded Risk Participation Agreement facility for Eastern and Southern African Trade & Development Bank
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $175 million Trade Finance Funded Risk Participation Agreement facility between the African Development Bank and Trade & Development Bank (TDB). The agreement is expected to boost intra-Africa trade, promote regional integration, and contribute to the reduction of the trade finance gap in Africa.
The Bank will provide liquidity of up to 50% (the other 50% to be matched by TDB), to Issuing Banks on a risk share basis, to support trade activities of local corporates and SMEs in member countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Together, the two institutions will provide a ticket size of $350 million to support trade transactions. This is a strategic effort by the African Development Bank to support the Africa Continental Free Trade Area’s agenda of reshaping markets and economies across the region by helping to boost output in the services, trade, manufacturing, and natural resources sectors.
African Development Bank Group approves Euro 50 million Trade Finance Risk Participation Partnership with Societe Generale to support local banks and SMEs in Africa
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group on Wednesday 13 July approved a €50 million unfunded risk-sharing facility partnership with Societe Generale to further support trade finance activities across Africa. The facility will contribute to reducing Africa’s trade finance gap by enhancing Societe Generale’s risk bearing capacity by up to fifty percent, enabling it to provide increased confirmation limits to local issuing banks on the continent.
The parties will share the default risk on a portfolio of eligible trade transactions originated by African Issuing Banks and indemnified by Societe Generale. Beneficiaries of this facility will be issuing banks in Africa who will benefit from additional support from international banks to grow their trade finance business, as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and domestic firms who rely on these issuing banks to fulfill their trade finance commitments.
Stefan Nalletamby, Director for Financial Sector Development at the African Development Bank, said the partnership with Societe Generale will help support African small businesses and local corporates involved in international trade.
Guinea: $66 million from the African Development Bank to extend access to electricity
On 14 July 2022 in Abidjan, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved a $66.39 million support package for Guinea. The funding is intended to help it increase access to electricity.
It consists of a $4.17 million grant and a $9.37 million loan from the African Development Fund (the concessional arm of the African Development Bank Group) and a $24.13 million grant and a $28.72 million loan from the Transition Support Facility. The project is co-financed by the Islamic Development Bank, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, hosted by the Bank, American cooperation, in particular USAID, through the Africa Energy Program, and the Guinean government.
Kenya: African Development Bank approves a €63 million loan to increase cereals and oil seed production
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a €63 million loan to Kenya to significantly boost cereals and oil seeds production by over 1.5 million metric tonnes over the next two years. The production increase will help bolster national food security and economic resilience.
The loan is part of the African Development Bank’s $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility, an Africa-wide initiative to avert a looming food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
The loan will support the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives (MoALFC). It will enable the government to promptly provide affordable fertilizer and seeds to farmers ahead of the October-December 2022 short rains and into the 2022/2023 long rains crop production season.
Kenya: African Development Bank approves $150 million for Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Highway Project
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group today approved financing of $150 million to Kenya to support a major highway development project under the government’s First Mover Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme.
The project will see the development of the A8 and A8 South highways. The existing 175km A8 road from Rironi to Mau Summit will be transformed into a four-lane carriageway and the 57.8 km two-lane A8 South, from Rironi to Naivasha will be strengthened and maintained over a period of 30 years.
Both roads are major routes stretching across the most densely populated parts of the country, beginning in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital and commercial nerve center, and traverse several counties in Nakuru and Kiambu, agricultural zones, wildlife reserves and tourism centers. The roads also form part of the strategic “Northern Corridor” which is the busiest trade and transport corridor in East Africa, providing gateway access to Kenya’s landlocked neighbouring countries.