Donors promise $8.9 billion to the African Development Bank
Source: Bank Information Centre
"Last week, the African Development Bank (AfDB) secured commitments from donors to contribute at least $8.9 billion toward the Bank’s concessional lending window for impoverished countries, the African Development Fund (ADF), during the final meeting of its current replenishment push in London. While the donations fell short of the $10 billion the Bank sought to finance its lending for the period 2008 to 2010, the amount still represents a 52 percent increase over the pledges to the ADF in the previous replenishment round.
Similar to the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) lending window, the ADF provides grants and concessional loans to nearly 40 African countries, the bulk of the AfDB’s members. Donor countries contribute new funds to the ADF every three years.
Apart from the small amounts the AfDB realizes from repayment of ADF loans, donor governments are the source of all ADF resources. This dependence gives the donors considerable influence over the way the money is used, and in shaping the policies and strategic directions of the institution. In line with donor priorities, the AfDB has identified four main areas to focus its work: infrastructure, governance, regional integration and fragile states.
The United Kingdom agreed to contribute $863 million toward the replenishment of the ADF. According to an AfDB press release, the UK’s contribution represents a doubling of its commitment during the last ADF replenishment in 2004, and the British Government urged other donor countries to follow suit. Donald Kaberuka, the AfDB’s president, called the move “a concretization of commitments to double aid to Africa” made by donor countries at the Gleneagles Summit of the G-8 in 2005.
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