What? Mid-Term Review of the African Development Fund (ADF-16)
Who? African Development Fund
When? From 8 to 10 October 2024
Where? Cotonou, Benin
The African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional lending window of the African Development Bank Group, is holding its Mid-Term Review (MTR) in Cotonou, Benin, from 8 to 10 October 2024. At the MTR, AfDB Management will report on the progress made on ADF-16 and the agreed policy commitments.
The ADF-16 theme is "Fostering a Climate Smart, Resilient, Inclusive and Integrated Africa". ADF-16 supports two strategic operational priorities: developing sustainable, climate-resilient, and quality infrastructure; and governance, capacity building, and sustainable debt management in recipient countries.
In addition, ADF-16 focuses on empowering women and girls as a condition for achieving inclusive and sustainable development. Fragility is a global lens for all ADF-16 priorities and operations, and climate is elevated as another lens. ADF-16 cross-cutting issues are gender and private sector development.
Benin has been in a positive reform trajectory over the past years and its selection to host the MTR was driven by several factors including its ability to showcase the utilization of a wide range of ADF resources/products.
In 2023, an ADF Partial Credit Guarantee (PCG) of EUR 195 million supported the country in mobilizing a loan for expenditures aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (an SDG loan) totaling EUR 350 million on the international market.
The ADF was established in 1972 and became operational in 1974. It is supported by donors (including the Bank) who replenish the fund every three years.
Over the past 50 years, the ADF has played a central role in providing concessional resources and knowledge services to low-income African countries while demonstrating clear value for money. ADF delivers transformative ideas and catalytic finance to Africa's low-income countries, including those in fragile situations. The ADF is an important source of funding, the development impact from its operations is efficient and demonstrates value for money, making the ADF a trusted and strategic partner to its stakeholders.
