IDEV reports: 51% increase in African Development Bank commitments to fragile states between 2014 and 2019

During the period 2014-2019, the Bank approved 354 operations totaling US $ 6.45 billion in Transition States.

The African Development Bank (https://www.AfDB.org/), the continent's main multilateral development institution, has increased its commitments to states in transition by 51 % between 2014 and 2019. This is what emerges from the report of the Bank's Independent Development Evaluation Department (IDEV). During the period 2014-2019, the Bank approved 354 operations totaling US $ 6.45 billion in Transition States (TEs), that is, States where the main development challenge is fragility, according to the Bank. 

This corresponds to an increase of 51% compared to the period 2008-2013, despite a decrease of 17.9% in the resources of the African Development Fund (ADF), according to IDEV, the office of independent development evaluation. form the bank. Over the period, the resources of the ADF, the concessional window of the Bank Group where the ETs originate, increased from US $ 6,835.1 billion (ADF-13) to US $ 5,608.9 billion (ADF-14 ). 

This is explained by the 7.5% increase in the resources of the Transition Support Facility (TAF) by the Bank and the mobilization of other financing instruments from the Bank window and special funds. Thirty-four non-sovereign operations amounting to US $ 441.9 million were approved for states in transition during the reporting period. Investment projects represent 86% of the value of the Bank's portfolio in transition states during the reporting period, with the remainder being budget support programs. 

The IDEV assessment covered Bank assistance to low-income countries eligible for the African Development Fund, which were permanently or temporarily on the Bank's lists of states in transition during the period 2014. -2019. The aim was to inform the development of a new Bank strategy to address fragility. 

During the period 2014-2019, the Bank took several initiatives which made it possible to increase the share of sovereign projects in the ET portfolios. Budgetary and institutional support was thus provided in to improve the business climate and build the capacities of stakeholders. The Bank has also taken other downstream initiatives (loans, equity investments, public-private partnerships, credit and risk guarantees, private sector development facility, etc.) to encourage private companies to invest in AND. 

The share of the private sector in the Bank's total engagement in TEs thus increased from 8% in 2016 to 12% in 2018. Fifteen non-sovereign operations were approved for the benefit of nine TEs. Bank support has improved access to basic services (water and sanitation, roads, energy) in all countries. These results are sometimes modest compared to needs, or promising such as large-scale access to electricity in Liberia, where the rate of access to electricity improved from 10.1% to 19.3%. between 2013 and 2016. More than 16,500 new connections were made in the outskirts of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Travel time between regions and the city has fallen by 15% in Liberia. In the DRC, the RN1 has made it possible to significantly reduce the time and cost of transport between Kinshasa and Grand Kasai. The price of rice fell by 30% and that of salt by 50% during the period. In addition, the road had a positive impact on security and social cohesion in Kasai, which was plagued by inter-community conflicts. 

The resources of the Transition Support Facility (TAF), the special support fund for fragile states, have had a satisfactory absorption rate. The Bank financed 88 projects in 21 states in transition between 2014 and 2019, with a cumulative absorption rate of 95%. Unallocated reserves have enabled the Bank to intervene substantially and quickly in unforeseen situations such as the Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. However, the limited resources of the TAF and its eligibility criteria do not allow the Bank to address the multifaceted and evolving factors of fragility as well as the associated inequalities, including exclusion, irregular migration and forced displacement. 

The Bank has made progress in strengthening its institutional capacity to be effective in TEs. It has moved closer to the ETs although there is still room for improvement. The number of national offices in ETs increased from thirteen in 2015 to fifteen in 2019.

“The Bank stands resolutely alongside the fragile states of the continent. The shareholders are providing us with remarkable support in continuing to support fragile states. They accepted a sharp increase in resources during the 15th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF), in support of low-income countries and fragile states, ie 32% more. 

Last week October 15, 2020, ADF countries received resources 700% higher than the amounts for 2015, "insisted Mr. Yéro Baldeh, Director of the Coordination Office for States in Transition at the African Development Bank. Several factors have favored the Bank's performance in TEs, the most important of which are the Bank's experience in infrastructure, the Bank's status as a partner of choice and the integrated approach which has ensured a strong synergy of projects. 

As for the unfavorable factors, IDEV cites the difficult economic, political and security contexts, the lack of selectivity, the low budget allocations in the face of the immense needs of the ETs, the lack of political will to implement certain reforms, the lack of a holistic approach and the absence or insufficiency of staff in country offices (South Sudan, Chad and DRC). 

The Bank has achieved tangible results in state building and institutional stability. However, they fall short of the stated ambitions and the means implemented. 

IDEV made several recommendations including, revising the strategy with prevention as a principle of engagement, aligned with the Country Fragility and Resilience Analysis (CRFA) tools; as well as taking into account migration and forced displacement as potential factors of fragility. 

The strengthening of the Bank's presence in the States in transition is recommended, as well as the adaptation of the instruments and methods of financing of the private sector window to the realities of SMEs and SMIs in these States.

Cassien Tribunal Aungane, Editor