African Development Fund provides $36b worth of loans, grants in last 40 years

Since its inception in 1972, the African Development Fund (ADF) has given out loans and grants totaling $36 billion.

According to the African Development Bank (AfDB) which created the ADF, about 4,000 loans and grants have been disbursed over the past 40 years to improve the lives of many Africans.

“Overall, in 40 years the ADF has provided about 4,000 loans and grants for a total of $36 billion that have improved the lives of many Africans,” the AfDB said February 18, 2013 marking 40 years of the contribution of ADF to Africa’s social and economic transformation.

The success of ADF, the Bank indicated, was due to its “effective partnerships approach with all parties concerned with specific country development, from the project beneficiaries themselves to civil society to public authorities.”

The success is also due to the Bank Group’s selective and focused approach in supporting countries in strategic areas such as Fragile States, infrastructure, governance and regional integration, it added.

Moving forward, the the AfDB said “ADF will continue to stand by African economies, so as to strengthen social and economic transformation, and intervene more robustly in areas such as inclusive growth, green economy, agriculture and food security, as well as gender and fragile states.”

The ADF was created to accompany the least fortunate African economies on the road to social and economic progress, the Bank says.

By Ekow Quandzie