ADB, AFD commit to providing $5 billion in co-financing in the next 3 years

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) agreed to increase their co-financing commitment from $3 billion in the past 3 years to $5 billion in the next 3 years, allowing them to scale up their joint development efforts in the Asia and Pacific region.

Under the Partnership Framework Agreement (PFA) for 2016–2022 that ADB and AFD signed in October 2016, the two institutions had agreed to each dedicate $1.5 billion in cofinancing in the first 3 years of the 6-year agreement. ADB and AFD have now decided to increase the amount to $2.5 billion each in the next 3 years, bringing their combined commitment to $5 billion.

“We are excited to deepen our partnership with AFD to scale up our efforts toward the achievement of inclusive and sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific,” said ADB Vice-President for Private Sector and Cofinancing Operations Mr. Diwakar Gupta. “This amendment, which will see ADB and AFD’s combined cofinancing commitment for the next 3 years increase from $3 billion to $5 billion, will help strengthen our collaboration in such areas as sustainable cities, urban transport, climate change, and gender mainstreaming.”

ADB and AFD have been collaborating since 1997, when they cofinanced their first project. They hold a high-level consultation meeting once a year to share priorities and promote strategic partnership.

Under the MOU, AFD is mobilizing the first tranche of €5 million ($5.7 million) from its grant resources to finance the procurement of consultants for the program. ADB will allocate its staff resources jointly with AFD to monitor MYC activities and to take part in the policy dialogue with counterparts.

Original source: ADB
Published on 08 February 2019