Private Sector Development

The growing role of the private sector in achieving sustainable development and poverty alleviation is evident worldwide.

The Bank considers private sector development as a major objective of its development activities. The African Development Bank addresses private sector development (PSD) at two primary levels:

• Assist African governments to improve the enabling environment for the private sector:
  
  • Improve essential physical infrastructure (e.g. power, information and communication technology, transportation)
  • Improve “soft infrastructure” (e.g. regulatory and legal frameworks, financial sector, trade   liberalization)

• Create a catalytic and demonstration effects by assisting entrepreneurs with specific transactions:
  
  • Infrastructure (e.g. power, transportation, telecoms, water)
  •  Industries and Services (e.g. mining, cement, agribusiness, hotels)
  • Financial Intermediation (e.g. banks, MFIs, insurance, leasing).

Mission Statement
The mandate of the Private Sector Operations (PSO) is to ensure the Bank Group's support to private sector development in Regional Member Countries (RMCs), by means of financial and technical assistance to private sector-led projects and programs.

The PSO identify, formulate, organize and carry out activities related to private sector development project. It also conducts studies on the investment climate of RMCs as well as other private sector related dimensions, with a view to identifying and supporting specific investment opportunities and programs contributing to private sector development.