The Government of Sweden will extend a grant of 50 million SEK (roughly $4.8 million) to the African Development Bank's Capital Markets Development Trust Fund (CMDTF). The contribution, allocated through the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA), reaffirms the country's commitment to fostering sustainable development and regional integration of capital markets across Africa.

The funds will support several strategic initiatives. These include bringing legal and regulatory frameworks into line with international best practices, modernising capital markets infrastructure, development of innovative financial products and making markets more accessible to the private sector. In addition to deepening integration and harmonisation of capital market networks across Africa, these steps are also expected to boost mobilisation of resources to finance key sectors of African economies.

More efficient and dynamic capital markets will help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by supporting greater efficiency in the mobilisation and allocation resources.

Hans Lundquist, Sweden's Ambassador to Ethiopia, Djibouti and South Sudan, as well as the Permanent Representative to the African Union, IGAD and ECA, said that well-functioning and integrated capital markets were important for all economic activities on the African continent.

"Sweden welcomes this initiative to build sustainable and catalytic markets and instruments with the potential to mobilise much-needed domestic and regional capital, long-term finance for public and private sectors as well as attracting crucial investments across the continent," Lundquist said. "We are therefore delighted about this new strategic partnership with the African Development Bank, which will enhance the capability of the CMDTF to scale-up its geographical coverage and product offerings to African countries and relevant regional institutions."

Sweden's regional development cooperation with Africa is managed by its Embassy in Addis Ababa.

Ahmed Attout, the African Development Bank's Director for Financial Sector Development, said, "We are delighted to welcome the Government of Sweden as a valued partner in our mission, joining Luxembourg and the Netherlands in this endeavour. Sweden's generous contribution will be directed toward key initiatives that will strengthen the infrastructure required to mobilise resources through regional and domestic capital markets. This partnership significantly enhances our capacity to implement impactful solutions that drive economic growth across Africa."

About the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund (CMDTF)

CMDTF is the Bank's Trust Fund dedicated to capital markets development. It provides technical assistance and capacity building to improve capital markets' regulatory and legal environment, upgrade capital markets infrastructure, diversify products, broaden investors base and increase knowledge on African capital markets. Through its operations, CMDTF contributes to:

• Establish well-functioning capital markets while reducing intermediate costs.
• Mobilize and allocate savings to fund private sector credit needs while catalyzing overall growth across Africa.

CMDTF's initial donors are the Ministry for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg.