African Development Bank Group and UK Export Finance sign first framework deal

The African Development Bank Group and UK Export Finance (UKEF), the United Kingdom’s export credit agency, have signed a memorandum of understanding to step up cooperation on co-financing projects across Africa, the Bank said in a statement on Friday, October 23.

The agreement, signed on October 21 in Conakry, Guinea, is the first framework deal between the two institutions. Abdul Kamara, acting vice-president of the Bank Group, and Tim Reid, chief executive of UKEF, signed it on the sidelines of the 5th UK–Francophone West and Central Africa Investment and Trade Forum (WCAF V).

Sovereign and non-sovereign projects

Under the memorandum, the two lenders will work together to identify, assess and develop co-financing opportunities for both sovereign and non-sovereign operations in the Bank Group’s regional member countries, drawing on each institution’s financial instruments.

The partnership aims to combine development finance with export credit to bring additional capital to strategic investments on the continent. Priority sectors listed by the Bank include energy, infrastructure, water and sanitation, health, digital infrastructure, critical minerals, supply-chain resilience, agriculture and trade finance.

Kamara said Africa’s financing needs called for partnerships able to deliver extra capital to the continent at scale.

“This agreement with UK Export Finance provides a structured framework for our cooperation and opens new prospects for financing the infrastructure and investments that will drive growth in Africa,” he said.

Reid said that by pooling their instruments and expertise, the two institutions could mobilise more co-financing for infrastructure, energy and trade, sectors he described as being of the greatest importance to Africa’s growth. He added that UKEF was committed to supporting that ambition and that the partnership would help it do so on a larger scale.

A long-standing relationship

The deal supports the Bank’s drive to mobilise capital at scale in line with its “Four Cardinal Points” strategic priorities.

The United Kingdom joined the African Development Fund in 1973 and became a member of the African Development Bank in 1983. It is among the main contributors to the Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional lending window.

UK Export Finance was founded in 1919 as the world’s first export credit agency. It provides financing and insurance to support British companies and is increasingly active in Africa.