African Development Bank reports $11 billion in 2025 financing approvals

The African Development Bank (AfDB) extended $11 billion in financing during 2025, the second highest level in its history, while disbursements reached $7.1 billion, the highest in five years, according to a press release by the African Development Bank. Senior Vice President Marie Laure Akin-Olugbade shared the figures during a presentation of the Bank’s annual results on 28 May, part of the 2026 Annual Meetings held in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. She described 2025 as “an exceptional year” for the institution. The Financial Presentation for 2025 and the 2025 Annual Development Effectiveness Report were both unveiled during the session. The results reaffirm the Bank Group’s ambition to deliver development outcomes at pace.

Akin-Olugbade noted that despite a challenging global environment, African countries continued to perform strongly. In 2025, 12 African countries ranked among the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies. Cumulative approvals supporting women and youth reached $3.1 billion by the end of 2025, benefiting more than 26,000 women entrepreneurs. Private sector operations also reached a record of $2.8 billion in the same year. The Bank Group maintained its triple A rating throughout the period.

Investments spanned regional corridors and rail infrastructure, agriculture, cities, financial management capacity building, and green investments. The seventeenth replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF) concluded with $11 billion, including over $190 million in pledges from African countries. Vice-President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Hassatou N’Sele highlighted the Bank’s pioneering role in issuing hybrid capital among multilateral development banks. Under Mission 300, Bank Group projects provided first-time electricity access to 1.5 million people last year and 5.2 million since launch, with a target of 50 million by 2030. Kevin Kariuki, Vice-President Power, Energy Climate & Green Growth, said 54% of the Bank’s investments were allocated as climate finance.

Solomon Quaynor, Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, said non-sovereign operations are entering a stronger growth phase under the New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD). “One of the good things about NAFAD, (is that) it’s not really about AfDB delivering the highest volume (of approvals), but it’s really about the Bank Group working with a system of the African financial architecture to deliver,” he said. Acting Vice President Abdul Camara emphasized fragility as a strategic priority crossing borders through insecurity, displacement, and climate shocks. Chief Economist Kevin Urama noted the Bank has invested $16 billion over the past 10 years to strengthen governance and public finance management. Acting Vice President Martin Fregene underlined that 11 million young Africans enter the labor market annually, while only 3 million find formal jobs.

Fregene highlighted agriculture as a major opportunity for youth through the Feed Africa strategy and Enable Youth program. The Bank has made job creation a cross-cutting goal across its strategy and operations. Akin-Olugbade summarized that the Bank Group is “delivering today while laying the foundations for greater impact tomorrow.” She added that the results confirm both the scale of the institution’s ambition and its ability to deliver consistently and at pace. The 2025 figures position the Bank Group to extend its reach across the continent in the years ahead.