Crucial replenishment meeting for the African Development Fund as it marks 50 years of support for the continent’s low-income countries | African Development Bank

African Development Fund members gather in Morocco for the fourth and final pledging session on the Fund’s sixteenth replenishment. The crucial meeting will culminate in a funding package for the Fund’s next cycle, which will span 2023-2025.

The meeting will be attended by representatives of 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 takes place in a difficult global environment that has slowed Africa’s economic growth prospects.

The two-day meeting is hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco, in the northern city of Tangier.

In the course of 2022, the Fund agreed three times for consultations between the management and the donor countries. The talks focused on issues such as climate and adaptation finance, sustainable debt management, post-Covid-19 recovery, as well as the policies and financial support the ADF should provide to help such countries.

Currently, eight of the ten poorest countries in the world are eligible for the African Development Fund.

The fund delivered a significant performance in its last cycle – ADF-15 – benefiting 37 countries in Africa. To address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fund provided $1.2 billion to support 25 ADF countries. The funding helped them maintain health services, expand social protection, protect their livelihoods and provide training to health workers.

The countries are also benefiting from the African Emergency Food Production facility approved by the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group last May. The funds help countries buy fertilizer and seeds; increase local food production by 30% and support policy reforms to address structural problems in the agricultural sector.

The Fund is celebrating its golden jubilee this year. Over the past 50 years, the fund has invested more than $40 billion in more than 2,700 projects across the continent and has gained global recognition.

The African Development Fund was ranked second globally in the quality of Official Development Assistance in 2021 by Center for Global Development and the Brookings Institution.

The African Development Fund is the concessional counter of the African Development Bank Group. Founded in 1972, it became operational in 1974.