The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and members of the African Forum of Deposit Funds have agreed to strengthen cooperation to mobilise long-term financing for development, productive investment and economic growth across the continent.
The agreement was disclosed in a statement published on the AfDB’s website on Thursday, outlining a framework for closer institutional collaboration to advance Africa’s development agenda and long-term prosperity.
According to the bank, the partnership will promote productive investment, strengthen economic resilience and support more inclusive growth through coordinated financing strategies, targeted investments and policy alignment.
The institutions said the collaboration would also support coordinated responses to geopolitical and economic uncertainties, climate-related disruptions, global shocks and market dependencies, while strengthening their collective capacity to manage risks and sustain development.
They noted that socioeconomic inequalities remained a major challenge requiring coordinated action, stressing that stronger institutional cooperation would help bridge development gaps, promote inclusion and strengthen resilience across African countries.
The partners said the framework would respect their diverse institutional roles and complementary mandates while directing joint efforts towards high-potential sectors capable of driving economic transformation, innovation, competitiveness and sustainable development.
They added that the partnership would leverage the complementary strengths of the AfDB Group and African members of the African Forum of Deposit Funds to expand development financing opportunities across the continent.
The collaboration is expected to facilitate long-term resource mobilisation, develop financing solutions tailored to Africa’s development priorities and strengthen investment mechanisms supporting infrastructure, industry, agriculture and social development.
“In a context marked by global economic uncertainty and the need to mobilise more resources for development, no institution can act alone,” Attout said, stressing the importance of partnerships in advancing Africa’s development.
He said stronger cooperation would create conditions for more effective mobilisation of long-term financing to support economic transformation, job creation, resilience and sustainable growth, while helping African countries address emerging development challenges.
Maryse Lokossou, Managing Director of Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations du Bénin and Chair of the African Forum of Deposit Funds, highlighted the strategic role of deposit funds in development financing.
She said African deposit funds had a unique capacity to mobilise long-term savings for national development and could combine their expertise and investment capacity with that of the AfDB to accelerate development outcomes.
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“The initiatives will support productive investment, entrepreneurship and job creation across African economies. The cooperation will also focus on knowledge sharing, institutional capacity development and promoting solutions that strengthen resilience continent-wide,” she said.
The partners said the approach would strengthen investment and cooperation frameworks aligned with national and regional development priorities, ensuring that resources were deployed effectively to support sustainable growth, regional integration and shared prosperity.
They added that the partnership reflected a shared commitment to sustainable and inclusive development and to building a more inclusive and predictable African financial system, while advancing the New African Financial Architecture for Development through stronger collaboration.
