The Africa Development Bank (AfDB) has
signed a concessional donor loan agreement with France to the tune of $ 253
million as support for the 14th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF).
Established
in 1972, the ADF represents an enduring development partnership between African
countries and donors. The Fund is part of the African Development Bank Group
and helps to improve the lives of millions of people across Africa through
loans and grants to projects and programmes.
Its
resources are replenished by donors every three years. The 14th replenishment
is intended to mobilize the funds necessary for the period 2017 to 2019.
The
acting Vice-President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer at the African
Development Bank, Hassatou N’Sele,
signed the ADF concessional donor loan agreement with the Deputy Chief
Executive Officer of Agence française de Développement (AFD), Jean-Pierre Marcelli, in Paris.
The
Agence française de Developpement negotiated and signed the loan agreement on
behalf of the French Treasury as part of the contributions of France to the
Fourteenth Replenishment of the Resources of the African Development Fund
(ADF-14).
The
move by France is the first time a donor country would sign a concessional
donor loan agreement for the ADF since the Fund management and donors agreed in
November 2016 to include a loan component within its financing framework.
Global
support for the ADF 14 cycle will help the African Development Bank to continue
to deliver very concrete developmental impacts across each of the High 5 areas
(Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate
Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa).
Two
other countries have also agreed to provide similar loan supports for ADF 14:
Japan (US $ 700 million) and India (US $ 15 million). The signature of the loan
agreements with Japan and India should take place early in 2018, N’Sele said.
The
loan component of ADF will enable donor countries to circumvent the fiscal
pressure most of them are facing and to provide additional support to ADF-14
through reimbursable funds. Without these innovative instruments, ADF-14 would
have been one-third lower than ADF-13. (Guardian)
No comments:
Post a Comment