Tag: AfDB

AfDB, Canada launch CAFC fund for climate change related projects

Frank

AFRICA – African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed an agreement with the Government of Canada to formalize the Canada–African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF), a transformative special fund aimed at providing concessional loans to climate change-related projects with a strong gender-responsive component. The fund will be capitalized through a combination of a CAD 122.9 million (US$104.8 million) repayable contribution, aimed at providing concessional loans for both sovereign and non-sovereign operations plus a CAD 10 million (US$7.95m) grant contribution for complementary technical assistance. The African Development Bank will administer the fund.…

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Equity Bank signs yet another US$100m long-term credit from AfDB for its SME kitty

Frank

KENYA – Equity Group Plc has signed its sixth long-term credit facility, a US$100 million loan deal with the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), the latest in a series of long-term credit to allow the Kenyan lender to offer concessional medium-term loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In September 2020, the bank signed a US$50 million loan facility with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a US$100 million with French financier Proparco in October, and a US$148.5 million loan facility with the European Investment Bank in March 2021. The Nairobi Securities…

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AfDB signs US$229.5m financing agreement for the Kampala-Jinja Expressway Project

Frank

UGANDA – The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Government of Uganda have  signed a US$229.5 million financing agreement for the first phase of the Kampala-Jinja Expressway Project, which will cut travel time and boost trade along an important artery linking Uganda with its neighbours. The Kampala-Jinja Expressway Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Project-Phase I will improve travel flow, thereby “reducing travel time from more than three hours to under one hour” between Jinja and Kampala along the northern corridor linking Uganda to neighbours Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan,…

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AfDB launches Global Benchmark bond and US$2m project in 4 Africa counties

Frank

WEST AFRICA – The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has launched a project to support development of domestic debt markets and financial systems in four West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) countries: the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. The Bank had earlier approved a grant of US$2 million for the project. The project, funded from the Bank’s Transition Support Facility, will provide technical assistance and capacity building to develop domestic debt markets in the four countries. Specifically, it will support the deepening of primary debt markets, improvement of debt market…

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AfDB gives US$1m grant for AI-based national customer management systems in Ghana, Rwanda and Zambia

Frank

AFRICA – The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a grant of US$1.024 million for artificial intelligence enabled systems to process customer complaints on behalf of the national banks of Ghana and Rwanda and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission of Zambia. The grant resources are from the special fund of the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), a financing vehicle to accelerate digital financial inclusion across Africa. The project will establish a complaints-handling system for the financial regulators, using multi-lingual chatbots and artificial intelligence…

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AfDB appoints Achraf TARSIM as Country Manager for Morocco

Frank

MOROCCO – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has appointed Achraf TARSIM as Country Manager designated for Morocco. Achraf, a Tunisian citizen, joined the Bank in 2009, as an economist in the Governance and Economic and Financial Reforms Department. Prior to this appointment, Achraf was Regional Sector Manager – North Africa, responsible for Energy, Infrastructure and Financial Sector, leading sector dialogue with the six North African countries and designing new projects in these sectors. As a seasoned professional with deep knowledge of the Bank’s operations, he was instrumental in launching transformative…

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AfDB lends Angola US$530m for hydropower transmission

Frank

ANGOLA – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a US$530 million loan to Angola which will be used to build a transmission line to link the north and south of Angola, as well as to connect households to the national electricity grid. Of the funding allocated by the African Development Bank, US$480 million represents a loan from the pan-African financial institution while the other US$50 million of the funding comes from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF), a US$2 billion fund established in 2014 by the AfDB and the…

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AfDB appoints Atsuko TODA the acting Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development

Frank

AFRICA – The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has announced the appointment of  Ms. Atsuko TODA as Acting Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, effective 16 March 2021. Atsuko, a Japanese citizen, is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience with international institutions. Atsuko joined the Bank in December 2016 as Director of the Agriculture, Finance and Rural Infrastructure Development Department. In her current function, she is responsible for the bank’s investments in private sector agribusiness companies, mainstreaming disaster risk finance, and development of Special Agro-Industrial…

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AfDB approves US$2.33m grant to support the modernization of e-payments infrastructure in Ethiopia

Frank

ETHIOPIA – The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a grant of US$2.33 million to EthSwitch Share Company, an initiative led by National Bank of Ethiopia, for the modernization of its payments infrastructure. The grant is resourced from the special fund of the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), a pan African initiative that aims to facilitate digital financial inclusion for an estimated 332 million unbanked population across the African continent, 60% of whom are women. The African Development Bank believes that provision of interoperable…

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AfDB extends US$2m grant to strengthen cybersecurity and boost financial inclusion in Africa

Frank

AFRICA – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has awarded a US$2 million grant to establish the African Cybersecurity Resource Center (ACRC) for Financial Inclusion to tackle cybercrime across Africa and to strengthen the resilience of digital financial ecosystems. The  grant will be disbursed through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility, a blended finance vehicle, which the institution supports. The project will take a three-pronged approach: creation of an affordable shared platform to monitor cyber-attacks against financial service providers and individual customers; rollout of individualized advisory services to enable  organisations to…

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