IslamicFinance.de

A joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) will boost agriculture and enhance drought resilience in Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda. Stronger ties between the two banks will help ramp up agricultural production along important crop and livestock value chains. For example, in Nigeria the Plateau State Potato Value Chain Support Project of the AfDB and the planned IsDB’s Agro Pastoral Development Project in Kano State will promote higher household incomes through productive agro-pastoral activities. In Somalia, AfDB’s Say No To Famine project is providing emergency assistance support and facilitating drought resilience building through the restoration of community assets.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) have signed an agreement to support projects in energy, agriculture and SME sectors on the continent. Both parties agreed to jointly pool together $2 billion over the next three years to finance projects in agriculture and food security, renewable energy, small and medium enterprises (SMEs). They also agreed to contribute $1 billion each over three years for joint activities focusing on these priority areas. CEO of AfDB, Akinwumi Adesina, reaffirmed the bank’s commitment and interest to build a stronger partnership with the Islamic Development Bank.

Last week in Jeddah was signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to cooperate in co-investment in projects in member countries mutual to both multilateral development banks (MDBs).
The two MDBs will commit to contribute $500 million each in a $1 billion cooperation spanning three years starting in 2011 and based on the AfDB's medium term strategy and the IDB special program for the development of Africa (SPDA), whose main focus is to assist in scaling-up interventions in Africa in agriculture, infrastructure, water and sanitation, education and healthcare.

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved on Friday 17 December 2010 in Tunis, a €70-million senior loan to finance construction of the Blaise Diagne International Airport on a new site located 45 km east of Dakar in Senegal.
The AfDB also acted as Mandated Lead Arranger (MLA) for the conventional financing tranche and facilitated €140 million additional senior loans.