Ivory Coast: African Development Bank provides €400 million in partial credit guarantees to mobilize funds for ESG projects | African Development Bank Group

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a €400 million partial credit guarantee for Côte d’Ivoire to support the mobilization in international financial markets of financing for strategic environmental, social and governance (ESG) projects. Approval came on July 12, 2023.

The partial credit guarantee enables Côte d’Ivoire to raise long-term financing from commercial banks, in line with its ESG framework. Ivory Coast has developed an ESG framework document that outlines the government’s commitment to environmental and social development and strengthens governance, including for project selection, fund management, evaluation and monitoring. The funds will support projects across a range of sectors, including sustainable agriculture and agro-industry, water and sanitation, renewable energy, health, affordable housing, education and vocational training, financial inclusion and entrepreneurship. Funding will also boost employment for young people and women in rural areas of the country.

Adama Coulibaly, Ivory Coast’s economy and finance minister, welcomed the approval. He said: “The provision of an AfDB Partial Credit Guarantee to support ESG compliant loans is an important milestone in our funding strategy, for which ESG tools have become an essential part. This support from the AfDB, a historic partner in the development of our country, has a real catalytic effect and today allows us to mobilize long-term financing, at an attractive price, in line with the objectives of our medium-term debt strategy.”

“We welcome the approval of this project, which will enable Côte d’Ivoire to implement green and social projects while diversifying its funding sources by mobilizing sustainable finance,” said Joseph Ribeiro, Deputy Director General of the African Development Bank for Western -Africa. “The funds raised will strengthen the implementation of the 2021-2025 National Development Plan of Ivory Coast, which is strongly supported by the African Development Bank Group,” he added.

The country’s 2021-2025 National Development Plan aims to pursue the structural transformation of the Ivorian economy while ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth. It contains strong social and environmental ambitions in the form of a series of investment projects and priority programmes.

The use of ESG lending is also in line with Côte d’Ivoire’s medium-term debt management strategy, which aims to innovate and diversify funding sources for strategic projects with high social and environmental impact.

Ahmed Attout, acting director of the African Development Bank for the development of the financial sector, said: “This operation demonstrates the relevance of our partial credit guarantee instrument, which not only encourages the participation of commercial banks, but will also enable optimize financing conditions for Côte d’Ivoire, with significant maturity extension and competitive interest rates, at a time when access to international financial markets is proving difficult for many African countries.”