Africa: Wcaf V - African Development Bank Group and UK Export Finance Sign MOU to Mobilise Financing for Africa

What the report says

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and UK Export Finance (UKEF), the United Kingdom’s export credit agency, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at expanding cooperation on co-financing projects across Africa. According to the AfDB material republished by AllAfrica, the agreement was signed on 21 October in Conakry, Guinea, during the fifth UK-West and Central Francophone Africa Trade and Investment Forum (WCAF V). It is described as the first framework agreement between the two institutions.

The memorandum is intended to create a structured way for the two organizations to identify, assess and develop financing opportunities in the African Development Bank’s regional member countries. The partnership is designed to combine development finance and export credit tools to attract additional capital for strategic investments on the continent.

Priority sectors named in the report include energy, infrastructure, water and sanitation, health, digital infrastructure, critical minerals, supply chain resilience, agriculture and trade finance. AfDB and UKEF also said the cooperation supports broader efforts to mobilize capital at scale for Africa’s development needs.

The report places the deal in the context of the wider relationship between the Bank Group and the United Kingdom, which has been a member of the African Development Fund since 1973 and of the African Development Bank since 1983. UKEF, founded in 1919, provides finance and insurance for UK businesses and has become increasingly active in Africa.