Bank Group Operational Activities

While addressing the short-term challenges to its operations posed by the global financial crisis, the Bank continued in 2009 to be guided by its overarching mission of poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth in its RMCs. In this respect, the Bank continued to implement its Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) 2008-2012, selectively directing its operational focus to the core sectors of infrastructure, governance, private sector operations, and higher education, science and technology. This approach enabled the Bank to respond more effectively to the RMCs’ broader development objectives in the areas of regional integration, human development, agricultural development and food security, and to meet the special needs of fragile states and middle-income countries (MICs). During the year, the Bank scaled up its efforts to mainstream the key cross-cutting themes of gender, environment, and climate change into all its operations. The Bank also tapped into its wealth of knowledge, accumulated from research and analysis, Economic Sector Work (ESW), and best practice based on its operational experience, to facilitate many of these responses. In all its efforts, the Bank remained committed to strengthening development effectiveness, ensuring visible results in RMCs, and to more systematic reporting on its contributions.

Bank Group total loan, grant, and other approvals in 2009 amounted to UA 8.06 billion, compared with UA 3.53 billion in 2008, representing more than a twofold increase. Of the total approvals for 2009, UA 7.51 billion was in the form of loans and grants, while UA 558.8 million went to debt relief, private sector equity participation, guarantees, loan reallocation, and special funds allocations. The two largest approvals for the year were the loans for the Medupi Power Project in South Africa (UA 1.73 billion) and the Economic Diversification Budget Support Loan to Botswana (UA 969.0 million).

In 2009 the distribution of Bank Group approvals across its 3 windows shows that the non-concessionary ADB window accounted for UA 5.60 billion (69.5 percent) of total Bank Group approvals for 84 operations. The concessionary ADF window accounted for UA 2.43 billion (30.1 percent) of all approvals for 77 operations, and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF) accounted for UA 5.7 million (0.1 percent) for 3 operations (1 project loan and 2 approvals for HIPC debt relief). Special funds accounted for UA 27.8 million (0.3 percent) of total approvals.

The sectoral distribution of loan and grant approvals for Bank Group operations continued continued to reflect the priorities of its Medium-Term Strategy (2008-2012). The two sectors that benefited the most were infrastructure with an allocation of UA 3.91 billion (52.1 percent), and multisector with UA 2.19 billion (29.1 percent). These two sectors accounted for 81.2 percent of total loans and grants. The third largest beneficiary sector was finance, with an allocation of UA 808.4 million (10.8 percent), mostly in the form of Lines of Credit (LOCs) to mitigate the adverse effects of the global financial crisis on RMCs’ financial sectors.

The approval of UA 3.91 billion for infrastructure in 2009, compared to UA 1.41 billion in 2008, represents an increase of 177.3 percent. Of the infrastructure subsectors,

power supply received the largest allocation (57.2 percent),
followed by transportation (33.1 percent),
water supply and sanitation (7.6 percent),
and communications (2.2 percent).

Targeting infrastructure demonstrates the Bank’s selectivity toward high-impact projects that will improve the investment climate for private sector development, enhance competitiveness and productivity, increase employment, and support sustainable economic growth.

In 2009 Bank Group loan and grant approvals for the 5 subregions (including multinationals) amounted to UA 7.51 billion, compared to UA 3.17 billion in 2008 – an increase of 136.9 percent. These were allocated as follows: