Browsing: African Development Fund (ADF)

ADF and Japan sign a $668.1m loan to finance Africa’s low-income countries

The African Development Fund (ADF) which is a concessional arm of the African Development Bank Group (AFDB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement worth $668.1 million (73.6 billion Japanese yen) which will help finance Africa’s low-income countries affected by the pandemic.

The loan will help support the 15th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF-15) which was approved in December 2019 by ADF donor countries. JICA is extending the loan – the largest to ADF-15 on behalf of the Government of Japan. Japan has been the fifth-largest contributor to the ADF in cumulative terms.

African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina and Kuramitsu Hideaki, Japanese Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire signed an Exchange of Notes, while the loan agreement was signed by Fujino Kojiro, the JICA Chief Representative in Côte d’Ivoire and Swazi Tshabalala, Acting African Development Bank Group Senior Vice President, in her …

African Development Bank finance Niger’s climate change

The African Development disbursed $5.6 million to Niger to implement its Africa Disaster Risk Management Funding Programme (ADRiFi).

The funds are from the African Development Fund (ADF-15) as technical and institutional support to strengthen the country’s resilience and response to drought-related disasters.

The project will be co-financed by the Bank’s group concessional rate loan window and the Pan-African mutual managed fund, a risk contribution of $1 million and by the Nigerien government $1.4 million.

Africa Disaster Risk Management Funding Programme (ADRiFi) aims to strengthen Niger’s resilience and response to climate shocks by improving its disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change.

ADRiFi will therefore provide financial and technical support to the Niger’s government through capacity building in terms of drought risk assessment, prevention of drought-related food crises and development of contingency plans. It will also support through transfer of sovereign risk through the subscription of insurance against drought risks …

$69m grant to support Ghana’s COVID-19 response plan

The African Development Bank approved a grant worth $69 million to support Ghana’s efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its socio-economic impact.

The grant is from the African Development Fund (ADF) a concessional arm of the African Development Bank.

The grant will provide fiscal budget support to finance the national COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan and Coronavirus Alleviation Program in Ghana.

The funds will specifically help upgrade the capacity of healthcare facilities to isolate, diagnose and care for the patient and provide more pharmaceuticals, test kits, equipment and beds. It will also support financial incentives and an insurance package for health and allied professionals as well as ensure adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers.

“Overall, the objective is to help contain the spread of the virus, expand testing and ease the impact of the virus on social and economic life, through measures aimed at protecting …

Uganda rallies regional states to rethink expensive debt path

A three-day regional conference on debt management in sub-Saharan African convened in Uganda this week is expected to conclude into signing a paper to be presented at several forums.

The forums will include the next World Bank spring meeting to highlight governments’ discomfort with some conditions tied to loans.

Uganda’s Ministry of Finance acting director for debt and cash policy management, Maris Wanyera, said the conference will be attended by delegates from 16 countries, under the theme “sustainable public debt management and a strengthened economic growth”

She also said that in light of the ongoing borrowing frenzy by African countries to finance their development agenda, the conference is long overdue.

“The idea is to come up with a strategy; a voice we can use while negotiating some of these loans. Debt [borrowing] is not bad at all, as long as we borrow for the right purposes and negotiate well, but …

Finland increases its support to African Development Fund

Finland to contribute €68.4 million to the restoration of the African Development Fund (AfDF). Finland’s pledge consists of a grant and a concessional loan to be presented next year

The fund is the concessional window of the African Development Bank Group. Finland is also preparing a loan of  €80 million for the African Development Fund . The fund grants concessional loans to Africa’s poorest countries. The fund is usually restored after every three years.

More than 30 donor countries and representatives of African countries reached an agreement on the restoration of the AfDF for 2019–2022. The donor countries’ development cooperation funding totalled to €5.5 billion of the total financing package of €6. (artandhistory.org) 8 billion.

Also Read: Finland Economic Affairs minister leads trade mission to Kenya

Finland’s pledge means a 45% increase on the €62.8 million contributed in the 2016–2019 replenishment round.
The objectives of the AfDF are …

The African Development Fund (ADF) the concessional window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has just got a boost from donor amounting to $7.6 billion which is a 32 per cent raise from the previous replenishment, AfDB press release reads.

The boost which came to fruition on Thursday 5 December 2019, comes as a good sign to the funding landscape in the bank, showing how AfDB commands trust and further the development funding sphere in Africa.

About the ADF

According to AfDB, the ADF which was established 1972 and became operation in 1974, 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. The Fund has cumulatively invested up to $45 billion over its 44 years of operationalization on the African continent.

On the same note, the …