The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is a multilateral development finance institution created with the mission to fight poverty and improve living conditions on the continent. It promotes the investment of public and private capital in projects and programs that contribute to the economic and social development of the region.
The AfDB comprises three entities: the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund, and the Nigeria Trust Fund.
The seeds for the idea of starting the AfDB came in the 1950s when the colonial period began coming to an end for Africa. Among these "founding" acts was the Tubman-Nkrumah-Touré conference of 1958, the year the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was created. Three years later, in 1961, the Monrovia Conference took place.
Establishment and Early Years
The AfDB started operations in 1964 following an agreement by the Organization of African Unity (which later became the African Union) to incorporate the bank on August 4, 1963, during a meeting held in Khartoum, Sudan, by all 23 of the bank’s founding member states.
A draft accord was submitted to top African officials and then to the Conference of Finance Ministers on the Establishment of an African Development Bank. This conference was convened by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Khartoum, Sudan, from July 31 to August 4. It was here that the agreement establishing the African Development Bank (AfDB) was cosigned by 23 African governments on August 4, 1963.
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Meeting in Khartoum, Sudan, in September 1964, representatives of 25 African countries agreed on the vision of a Bank that could drive economic development across Africa by mobilizing additional capital. This led to the creation of the African Development Bank (the Bank), with its leading objective clearly spelled out; ‘To Promote Sustainable Economic Growth and Reduce Poverty in Africa’.
The inaugural meeting of the Board of Governors of the bank was held from 4 to 7 November 1964 in Lagos, Nigeria.
Expansion and Evolution
Originally, only African countries were able to join the bank, but in 1982, it began allowing the entry of non-African countries as well. While retaining its fully African character, the Bank admitted non-regional member countries in 1982. At the time, it comprised 79 countries.
From February 2003 to September 2014, the bank operated from its Temporary Relocation Agency in Tunis, Tunisia, owing to the prevailing political conflict in Ivory Coast during the Ivorian civil war at the time. From February 2003 to the end of 2013, the Bank operated from its temporary Relocation Agency in Tunis, Tunisia, due to the political turmoil in Côte d'Ivoire, before returning to its Abidjan headquarters in 2015.
The bank is currently based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast again. Adesina thanked President Ouattara for hosting the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan and for his strong support.
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Financial Standing and Operations
Since its founding, AfDB has financed 2,885 operations, for a total of $47.5 billion. In five decades, it has financed more than 4,100 operations for a continent that passed the one billion mark in 2010.
In 2003, it received an AAA rating from the major financial rating agencies and had a capital of $32.043 billion.
The Bank's project approval amounts reached UA 6.16 billion, which is close to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic benchmark of UA 7.3 billion from 2019. The High 5 strategic priority areas saw robust increases in funding, with renewable energy projects receiving notable emphasis as they accounted for 100% of the approvals for energy generation projects. Investment in other key areas also increased, with food security receiving UA 1.34 billion, industrialization UA 1.59 billion, and infrastructure UA 1.13 billion.
According to the AfDB's 2005 Annual Report, regional economic blocs will make Africa “more competitive in the global market”, while transport and power interconnections between smaller African economies will help create larger markets in the continent.
The AfDB has specific mandates from the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and other international organizations to take the lead amongst financial and development institutions in areas such as infrastructure, regional integration, and banking and financial standards in Africa. These mandates have also increased the AfDB's profile in the media.
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The AfDB promotes economic development and social progress of its RMCs in Africa and the bank commits approximately $3 billion annually to African countries. The AfDB primarily operates as a source of financing for large development projects.
The AfDB participates in both the Climate for Development in Africa Initiative (ClimDev-Africa) as well as the Climate Investment Fund (CIF). The bank's contribution in the fight against HIV/AIDS is estimated at over UA 500 million. Energy projects are likely to become a more important area of the AfDB's infrastructure work, given the lack of access to energy services across Africa and continued high oil prices affecting oil-importing countries.
The Bank's active portfolio grew to UA 44.33 billion, with 58% of projects rated satisfactorily.
In the African Development Bank's (AfDB) 2022 Annual Report, a decrease in Africa's GDP growth to 3.8%, down from 4.8% the previous year, was recorded. The 16th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF-16), which provides soft loans and grants, served as a significant financial enhancement, gathering US$8.9 billion. Within this sum, US$429 million was designated specifically for climate change-related initiatives.
Key Initiatives and Funds
Established in 1972, the African Development Fund started operations in 1974. It provides development finance on concessional terms to low-income RMCs which are unable to borrow on the non-concessional terms of the AfDB. In harmony with its lending strategy, poverty reduction is the main aim of ADF activities.
Twenty-four non-African countries along with the AfDB constitute its current membership. The largest ADF shareholder is the United Kingdom, with approximately 14% of the total working shares followed by United States with approximately 6.5% of the total voting shares, followed by Japan with approximately 5.4 percent.
The ADF's sources are mainly contributions and periodic replacements by non-African member states. The fund is usually replenished every three years, unless member states decide otherwise. The total donations, at the end of 1996, amounted to $12.58 billion. The ADF lends at no interest rate, with an annual service charge of 0.75%, a commitment fee of 0.5%, and a 50-year repayment period including a 10-year grace period.
The Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF) was established in 1976 by the Nigerian government with an initial capital of $80 million. The NTF uses its resources to provide financing for projects of national or regional importance which further the economic and social development of the low-income RMCs whose economic and social conditions require financing on non-conventional terms. In 1996, the NTF had a total resource base of $432 million.
In 2010, the African Development Institute became the focal point of the African Development Bank Group for capacity-building. The institute had been established in 1973 to enhance the effectiveness of the AfDB's funded operations.
In February 2025, the AfDB and Interpol signed a letter of intent to pursue greater cooperation to combat corruption across the continent.
Governance and Leadership
The AfDB is controlled by a Board of Executive Directors, made up of representatives of its member countries. The voting power on the Board is split according to the size of each member's share, currently 60%-40% between African (or "regional") countries and “non-regional” member countries (“donors”). The largest African Development Bank shareholder is Nigeria with nearly 9% of the vote.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina is the 8th elected [1] President of the African Development Bank Group, having taken the oath of office on 1 September 2015. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, a globally renowned development economist and World Food Prize Laureate, is the African Development Bank Group president, having been unanimously re-elected for a second five-year term in September 2020.
First elected in September 2015 as the Bank Group’s eighth president, Adesina, formerly Nigeria’s Agriculture Minister, launched a bold agenda known as the High 5s: Light up and Power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialize Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa. These priorities, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, have positively impacted over 400 million Africans.
Member governments are officially represented at the AfDB by their Minister of Finance, Planning or Cooperation who sits on the AfDB Board of Governors. The AfDB Governors meet once a year (at the Annual Meetings of the AfDB each May) to take major decisions about the institution's leadership, strategic directions and governing bodies.
Day-to-day decisions about which loans and grants should be approved and what policies should guide the AfDB's work are taken by the Board of Executive Directors.
Strategic Priorities and Impact
The primary function of AfDB is making loans and equity investments for the socio-economic advancement of the RMC. Second, the bank provides technical assistance for development projects and programs. Third, it promotes investment of public and private capital for development.
One of emerging views, repeatedly cited by the AfDB's board of directors and management, is that the AfDB should be more “selective” and “country-focused” in its operations. The infrastructure sector, including power supply, water and sanitation, transport and communications, has traditionally received the largest share of AfDB lending.
In 2005, the AfDB approved 23 infrastructure projects for approximately $982 million, which totaled 40% of AfDB approvals that year. Given the increased attention to infrastructure development in Africa from donors and borrowers, it is likely that AfDB's infrastructure lending will increase significantly in the coming years. Regional integration infrastructure projects will be a key part of the AfDB's future business.
The AfDB has been designated the lead agency to facilitate "NEPAD infrastructure initiatives", which are regional integration projects led by African Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Additionally, the AfDB hosts the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA). The ICA was established by G8 countries to coordinate and encourage infrastructure development in Africa, focusing on regional infrastructure development in particular.
The AfDB helps to prepare projects so they may obtain financing from others sources through an initiative called the Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (IPPF).
Under his leadership, the Africa Investment Forum was launched in 2018, attracting $180 billion in investments. “This is an historic milestone and a cause for celebration, but it is also an opportunity to see that the African Development Bank has financed some pivotal infrastructure and helped improve the living conditions of millions of Africans.
“Our Bank is a steadfast support in times of crisis. Africa still has floods and wars and hunger is rife. Adesina paid tribute to the Bank’s achievements since its inception in Abidjan in 1964.
He described how in 2019 President Ouattara helped the Bank secure a general capital increase of $115 billion - the largest increase in the Bank’s history.
“In the past 9 years, we have provided over $55 billion in support of infrastructure, from energy to roads, corridors, seaports, airports, rail, digital infrastructure, water and sanitation. Adesina added that in the last eight years the Bank’s work has impacted the lives of over 400 million people across Africa.
The AfDB’s financial standing has been restored from the near collapse of 1995, but its operational credibility remains a work-in-progress. A working group convened by the Center for Global Development, an independent Washington think tank, released a report in September 2006 that offered six recommendations for Bank's president and board of directors on broad principles to guide the bank's renewal. The report contains six recommendations for management and shareholders as they address the urgent task of reforming Africa's development bank.
While the AfDB's lending had not expanded significantly in recent years, 2006 figures indicate that things may be changing. Between 2005 and 2006, the AfDB's lending activities increased by more than 30 percent to $3.4 billion. Over the same period, private sector operations doubled in value.
The African Development Bank uses a Unit of Account which is registered as ISO 4217, whose standard currency code is XUA.
The Global Center on Adaptation‘s regional office for Africa - GCA Africa - is hosted by the African Development Bank at its headquarters in the Ivorian capital Abidjan.
In general, whereas there has been progress at all levels with regard to democracy, growth and restoring the macro-economic balances in Africa over the past fifteen years, half of sub-Saharan Africa lives on under one dollar a day, and AIDS is threatening the social fabric of the continent.
The studies conducted by various organizations (including the African Development Bank and the World Bank) show that, with the exception of northern and southern Africa, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (reducing by half the number of persons living in poverty and without access to potable water by 2015) will in most cases not be attained.
The United Nations launched Development Business in 1978 with the support of the World Bank and many other major development banks from around the world.
