AfDB Medium Term Strategy

A Road Map for the Bank-Message from the President

This Medium Term Strategy constitutes a road map for the Bank and its partners at a critical time for Africa. Its elaboration benefited from wide consultation and is consistent with the High Level Panel Report. It combines ambition and realism and clearly spells out deliverables. When work began to draw up this plan, the financial crisis was in its very early stages with its full economic ramifications slowly unfolding. The AfDB and other multilateral development banks are called upon to play a bigger role, to do more, to innovate. I am determined that the African Development Bank meets this call. Our central challenge then is how to stay focused on core priorities while providing response to the new unfolding economic landscape.

This strategic framework provides the guidance and sets the direction. It is not a straight jacket and it enables us to respond to changing needs and circumstances. It seeks to give selectivity and complementarity a much clearer operational definition, charting a way on how to avoid strategic drift as new demands and needs arise.

Building on lessons drawn from earlier strategies, it sets out principles and priorities on the best way to maximize focus and effectiveness on our core areas; Infrastructure, Private Sector, Regional Integration and Governance while being complementary with other partners in the rest of the key domains. I am fully aware that the main obstacle will be that of delivery capacity and the resource base. We will overcome by steadily building that internal capacity and reform the business processes – a fulcrum of success for this plan. At the same time, we will continue to emphasize financial soundness, maintain our strong ratings while leveraging innovatively our balance sheet and drawing on our financial strength for the benefit of our member countries.

As we embark on this journey, I take the opportunity to thank the Board, Senior Management and Staff who were involved in this exercise. We will now focus fully on implementation.

Medium Term Strategy

The AfDB 2008-2012 Medium Term Strategy builds and draws on the Bank’s previous multi-year Strategic Plan (2003-2007). Extensive consultations across a wide spectrum of shareholders and partners have, in particular, revealed a need for greater focus on results; more selectivity in areas of engagement and rigor in implementation; continued improvement in business processes and efficiency; intensified country dialogue; and more systematic matching of resources with priorities.

The last decade brought unprecedented growth to many African economies with promising reductions in poverty levels. Conditions for sustained growth have been broadly favorable until recently, as the global financial crisis has introduced new pressures and uncertainties. At a minimum, a sharply softer global economy characterized by more difficult credit conditions, coupled with the significantly changing international aid architecture, means sharper medium-term challenges for the Bank and its regional member country shareholders.

The strategy aims at effectively positioning the Bank within a more volatile, uncertain and competitive environment, while remaining focused on serving the primary needs of its African clients. The Bank has a unique position in Africa and must remain relevant to all its regional member countries. To do so, it must be more effective and equipped with appropriate instruments and resources.

An effective strategy must therefore be a framework, not a blueprint. Within a clear set of priorities, the Bank must be able to respond to changing needs and circumstances. It should be judged by its results: the contribution it makes to development and the reduction of poverty, in particular by promoting equitable growth and economic integration, and through them, wider opportunities for Africa’s poor. 

Our aim remains to become the preferred partner in Africa, providing quality investment and advice. To this end, the Bank will increase selectivity, with particular operational focus on infrastructure, governance, developing a more robust private sector, and higher education. Through investments in these areas, the Bank will contribute directly to regional integration, Middle Income Countries (MIC) and fragile states assistance, human development, and agriculture. Knowledge-generation, climate change and gender will be mainstreamed in all the institution's operations.

The Bank has built and will maintain a strong balance sheet and credit rating. It will more fully use the comparative advantages of its integrated structure, bringing together sovereign, non-sovereign, and concessional resources to meet the particular needs of individual regional member countries. The Bank will also work more consistently in partnership with others to maximize development impact, and improve harmonization, alignment and the use of country systems, as agreed in the Accra Agenda for Action.

There will be more focus on delivery and on development results, improving portfolio quality, and accelerating implementation. Changes in operational and human resource processes and budgeting will give managers greater responsibilities, but also hold them to account for results. Progress will be closely monitored and regularly reported.