African Development Bank

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is a multilateral development finance institution established on August 14, 1963, through an agreement signed in Khartoum, Sudan, which entered into force on September 10, 1964. Founded by the Organisation of African Unity (predecessor of the African Union), the Bank began effective operations on July 1, 1966. Its headquarters were set up in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, in March 1965, though from February 2003 to the end of 2013 the Bank operated from a temporary Relocation Agency in Tunis, Tunisia, due to political turmoil in Côte d'Ivoire, before returning to Abidjan in September 2014.

The AfDB group comprises three entities: the African Development Bank (the parent organization), the African Development Fund (created in 1972 to provide interest-free loans to the poorest African countries), and the Nigeria Trust Fund (established in 1976 with initial capital of $80 million from the Federal Government of Nigeria). The Bank also has five associated institutions: the African Import-Export Bank (Afreximbank), the Africa Reinsurance Corporation (Africa-Re), the Société Internationale Financière pour les Investissements et le Développement en Afrique (SIFIDA), the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI), and Shelter-Afrique.

With a membership of 81 countries (54 regional African nations and 27 non-regional countries including the United States, China, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and others), the AfDB is considered the premier development finance institution on the continent. Its mission is to promote investment of public and private capital in projects that contribute to economic and social development, focusing on infrastructure, energy, agriculture, transportation, water, and private sector development. The Bank holds a AAA credit rating and had total authorized capital of approximately $208 billion as of recent years. [edit]