Members of the African Development Fund are meeting in Morocco for the fourth and final pledging session on the Fund’s sixteenth replenishment.
The crucial meeting will culminate in a financing package for the Fund’s next cycle covering 2023-2025.
A statement issued by the African Development Bank Group yesterday said the meeting would be attended by representatives from the Fund’s donor countries and the senior management of the African Development Bank Group, led by its president, Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina.
The meeting the statement said comes amid a tough global climate which had slowed down Africa’s economic growth prospects.
The two-day meeting is hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco, in its northern city of Tangier.
Over the course of 2022, the Fund convened three times for consultations between its management and donor countries.
The conversations have focused on issues such as climate and adaptation finance, sustainable debt management, post-COVID-19 recovery, as well as the policy and financial support to be provided by the ADF to assist such countries.
Currently, eight of the world’s 10 poorest countries are African Development Fund-eligible.
The Fund has made a significant delivery in its last cycle – ADF-15, benefiting 37 countries in Africa. To tackle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fund provided $1.2 billion to support 25 ADF countries. The funding helped them to maintain health services, expand social protection, protect livelihoods, and provide training to health professionals.
The countries are also benefitting from the African Emergency Food Production facility approved by the African Development Bank Group’s board last May.
The funds are assisting countries to procure fertilizer and seeds; raise local food production by 30 per cent and support policy reforms to address structural problems in the agricultural sector.
The fund celebrates its golden jubilee this year. Over the past 50 years, the Fund has invested more than $40 billion in more than 2,700 projects on the continent, receiving global recognition.
The African Development Fund was ranked second globally on quality of official development assistance in 2021 by Centre for Global Development and the Brookings Institution.
The African Development Fund is the concessional window of the African Development Bank Group. Established in 1972, it became operational in 1974.
BY TIMES REPORTER