Published: April 25, 2021
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and African Development Bank (AfDB) signed a joint partnership action plan, with the multilateral development banks looking to work together in a “partnership of equals” supporting public and private projects in Africa.
The two banks have signed an agreement that will see them grow a shared pipeline of projects around key themes with a strong environmental, social and governance element. They will offer financial and technical support, using an army of technical experts like engineers and credit risk assessors to work on projects.
“The agreement with the AfDB is the latest memorandum of understanding since 2005,” an EIB spokesperson, who did not want to be named, told EMEA Finance. “What makes this different is that it’s essentially a partnership of equals.”
Both banks signed the plan to “coincide with the rapidly evolving context of the Covid-19 pandemic which is creating social and economic challenges of historical proportions”, according to the plan whitepaper.