Christian Adovelande, President of the West African Development Bank (Boad) and François Jacquier-Pelissier, Director of the French Development Agency (AfD) in Togo, signed today, at boad's headquarters, two financing agreements for a total amount of 175 million euros (or 114.8 billion CFA francs). They are respectively part of the French initiative "COVID19-Santé en Commun" led by the Afd Group and Climate Finance.

The support is accompanied by a technical assistance grant of €0.6 million (CFAF 393 million). This global financing from the AfD will contribute to the Boad's strategy for the benefit of WAEMU member states and economic operators with a view to sustainable economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The first agreement worth €100 million (CFAF 65.6 billion) aims to support the Boad in its counter-cyclical response to the crisis.

First of all, it participates in the financing of the response plans of waeMU member states, as part of an initiative led by Boad in conjunction with the Bceao and the WAEMU Commission. An emergency loan at a preferential rate of 15 billion CFA francs was released for each Member State (a total of 120 billion CFA francs). Then, the Afd-Boad agreement will finance economic recovery investments made by the private sector of the sub-region for which the Boad has just made available to the Union's commercial banks a refinancing line amounting to 100 billion CFA francs.

In addition to this financing component, Boad and Afd are considering a strategic dialogue on sustainable economic recovery in the post-crisis context, as part of the formulation of the Boad Strategic Plan for the period 2021-2025, the first axes and orientations of which have just been approved during the 117th session of its Board of Directors held on June 24.

The second agreement concerns a €75 million (CFAF 49.2 billion) credit line and a €600,000 technical assistance grant, the purpose of which is to contribute to the development of resilient and low-carbon economic models in the WAEMU zone, by densifying and redirecting investment flows towards climate projects. More specifically, the credit line aims to finance projects to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (25%) and adapt vulnerable populations to the consequences of climate change (75%) in the sub-region. The grant will support the Boad in the implementation of its Environment and Climate strategy, so that the Bank is able to sustainably support its member states and partners on the subject of climate.

This support, which responds to two requests from Boad, is fully in line with the Afd Group's strategy to support the structuring of a resilient and sustainable financial ecosystem, able to operationalize the financial component of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement in Africa. the west.

With these signatures, a new step has been taken in the rich historical partnership that Boad and Afd have maintained since the creation of the regional bank in 1976. This partnership was materialized in particular by nine operations in different fields (agriculture, public service infrastructure, support to the private sector, energy sector, financial consolidation, climate) and fueled by regular exchanges between the directorates-general and the operational teams of the two institutions. It is also alive as part of the joint membership of the International Development Finance Club (Idfc) which animates the strategic debate of the world's main public development banks around the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement as well as the Mainstreaming Climate Action in Financial Institutions initiative, which currently brings together 44 public and private financial institutions active in promoting climate finance.

AfD and Boad will jointly participate in the first Development Banks Summit on Financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will be held in Paris from 10 to 12 November and will be organized in partnership with the Paris Peace Forum. This large-scale event will bring together for the first time all public development banks (DBPs) and will be an essential platform to encourage these institutions to act together to unlock their full potential and maximize investments that are consistent with the multilateral sustainable development agenda.

About afd

The Agence Française de Développement (Afd) group is a public institution that finances, supports and accelerates transitions towards a more just and sustainable world. As a French platform for official development assistance and sustainable development investment, it builds shared solutions with its partners, with and for the populations of the South.

Its teams are involved in more than 4,000 projects on the ground, in the Overseas Territories and in 115 countries, for the common goods of humanity – climate, biodiversity, peace, gender equality, education and health. The AfD thus contributes to the commitment of the France and the French to the Sustainable Development Goals. For a world in common.

About Boad

The West African Development Bank (Boad) is the joint development finance institution of the States of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU). A public institution of an international character, the Boad's purpose, under Article 2 of its statutes, is "to promote the balanced development of the Member States and to achieve the economic integration of West Africa". " by financing priority development projects. It is accredited to the three climate finance financing mechanisms (Gef, Af, Gcf). Since 2009, Boad has sat as an observer on the UnFCCC and actively participates in discussions on the construction of an international climate finance architecture. Since January 2013, it has hosted the first Regional Collaborating Centre (CRC) on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), whose aim is to provide direct support to governments, NGOs and the private sector for the identification and development of CDM projects. It is committed to carbon neutrality by 2023.