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"Every mine I clear saves a life"
Established:
1964
Headquarters:
Abidjan (Ivory Coast), temporarily in Tunis (Tunisia)
Members:
77 countries of which 53 are African countries
Organization:
Board of Governors is the highest decision-making body; the 18-member Board of Directors handles strategic-operational decisions
President:
Donald Kaberuka (Rwanda)
Financing:
Member contributions (AfDB: share capital; Funds: replenishment), earned income and reserves as well as through the international capital market
Swiss 2008 contribution:
CHF 51.3 million
Link:
www.afdb.org
La Suisse contribue au désendettement multilatéral des pays les plus pauvres
Le Conseil fédéral a octroyé le 16 mai 2007 les moyens destinés à financer la première phase biennale de l'initiative d’allégement de la dette multilatérale (IADM) envers la Banque mondiale et la
Banque africaine de développement. Les dépenses pour 2007 et 2008, de l'ordre de 33 millions de francs, seront financées par le biais des crédits de l'aide au développement de la DDC et du SECO.
African Development Bank, AfDB
The African Development Bank, AfDB, was founded in 1964 to promote the economic and social development of Africa. It is the only multilateral bank in which borrowers hold the greatest portion of shares (60%). The bank is the most important multilateral institution in Africa and grants between 2 and 3 billion USD in loans annually.
| The main tasks of the African Development Bank |
The AfDB is part of the African Development Bank Group which is also made up of the African Development Fund, AfDF, and the Nigerian Trust Fund, NTF. The main tasks of the Group are
- granting credits to promote economic and social development (AfDF),
- technical assistance in preparing and implementing development projects and programmes (AfDF),
- promotion of public (AfDF) and private (AfDB) investments for development projects, and
- financing infrastructure projects in countries with average incomes (AfDB).
The Group is the most important public financial institution in Africa and grants around USD 2 billion in loans annually. The AfDB grants credits at close to market
conditions to countries with average incomes. As a rule, the money goes to the private sector or to the development of large public infrastructure projects such as airports.
Both funds grant credits at highly favourable rates with very long terms to those countries which do not have access to regular bank loans. The funds focus primarily on fighting
poverty and on creating economic framework conditions for sustainable development. Following a replenishment crisis in the bank, the African Development Fund, AfDF was increased
for the first time in 1972 to finance growing public development tasks such as schools, hospitals, water and electricity supply with highly favourable credits. This fund is replenished every three
years.
In the 1990s, after the institution weathered a serious crisis in governance, it had to introduce profound reforms. Under the 2003-2007 strategy, the group focuses on a limited number of
priority areas: water supply, education and health as well as the provision of infrastructure in rural areas. The
group also wants to promote cross-cutting themes such as good governance in partner countries, gender equality, environmental protection, rural development and the fight against transmittable
diseases.
| The African Development Bank and Switzerland |
Switzerland has been a member and shareholder in the AfDB since 1982 when the bank opened its doors to OECD donors. Switzerland has supported the African Development Fund, AfDF since its
foundation in 1972.
Switzerland is represented on the Board of Governors, the highest decision-making body, by a representative of seco and the SDC. However, most of the bank’s
competencies are with the 18 executive directors of which 12 come from regional and six from non-regional member states. The Board of Directors decides on central issues
such as sectoral strategies concerning water, environment, gender equality, education, and health, the granting of credits and guarantees and programmes and projects. Switzerland is part of a voting
group which includes the Scandinavian countries and India. At the moment Norway is executive director and Switzerland is deputy executive director. A rotation system ensures that all countries have
an equal chance to hold these positions.
In the AfDB, Switzerland has a capital and voting share of nearly 1.5 %. On the other hand Switzerland pledged a 2.5 % share at the
last replenishment of the African Development Fund.
Through its presence on the different bodies, Switzerland sees to it that the bank implements its strategy to fight poverty with concrete measures and measurable results and that the
institution puts more emphasis on the control and quality assurance of its programmes. Further information on cooperation with the AfDB can be found in “Switzerland and the African
Development Bank".
Additional Information and Documents
- La Suisse et la Banque Africaine de Développement (BAD)
Lignes d'action 2005
Download (PDF, 850 KB) : [de] [fr] -
ADB, The African Development Bank Group
The ADB is a multinational development bank supported by 77 nationshttp://www.afdb.org - Représentation de la Suisse au Conseil des gouverneurs de banques multilatérales de développement
- La Suisse contribue au désendettement multilatéral des pays les plus pauvres