A new report from the African Development Bank Group provides an overview of the outcomes of regional activities during the past ten years that were funded by its concessional lending window, the African Development Fund (ADF).
In the paper “Crossing Borders, Connecting Communities, Changing Lives,” the effects of the regional operations envelope since ADF-13 are examined and documented (the 13th replenishment of the ADF).
The ADF’s regional operations envelope, which contributes to more than 80 ongoing regional projects and programs, offers crucial assistance to Africa’s 37 low-income nations, 16 of which are landlocked.
The envelope enables these nations to create regional infrastructure that fosters their development by supplanting their existing resources.
The report also emphasizes how the ADF plans to raise an additional $1.5 billion in co-financing from development partners like the World Bank, the Green Climate Fund, the OPEC Fund, and the European Investment Bank between 2020 and 2022 in order to finance 51 projects and programs totaling $2.7 billion.
Yacine Fal, the Bank’s acting vice president for regional development, integration, and business delivery, said, “At the Bank, we know that regional connectivity will catalyze Africa’s path to recovery.”
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, debt vulnerabilities, climate shocks, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, this is particularly true.
ADF nations with effective regional operations deserve our support.
They will build the framework for long-term social and economic resilience.
The billions of dollars’ worth of regional infrastructure that spans African nations is lacking.
For the low-income nations of Africa, financing the shortfalls is particularly difficult.
However, cross-border infrastructure is necessary for nations to trade, innovate, and prosper.
This includes roads, transmission lines, financial systems, and other types of infrastructure.
The amount of resources needed to recover, rebuild, and integrate low-income nations in Africa is staggering, according to Jean-Guy Afrika, acting director of the Bank’s Regional Integration Coordination Office.
“This report demonstrates how supporting regional operations benefits millions of women, men, and young people in the form of investors, business teams, and entrepreneurs as well as small-scale traders, consumers, and households.
We especially appreciate the kind donations from ADF donors, and we hope that the proof shown in this report will encourage additional funding for the development of Africa.
The paper emphasizes how the regional envelope-funded ports, airports, border posts, power plants, and communication networks are bringing communities together and transforming lives.
Major highlights
Areas that are suffering fragility are becoming more and more the focus of regional efforts.
In contrast to the Bank’s initial aim of 20%, more than 43% of resources under ADF-15 were sent to vulnerable areas like the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and the Lake Chad region.
Nearly 80% of the operations approved during the previous three ADF cycles were for regional transportation, power, and ICT projects.
This resulted in the construction of numerous new bridge projects, one-stop border posts, and miles of paved roads throughout corridors in West, East, Central, and Southern Africa.