United Kingdom

Partnership overview

The United Kingdom (UK) joined the African Development Fund (ADF) on June 20, 1973 and became a member of the African Development Bank (AfDB) on April 29, 1983. The UK supported the 2010 General Capital Increase VI and ADF-XII replenishment. For ADF-XII, it contributed GBP 557 million, representing a 35 per cent increase from ADF-XI.  The UK burden share represents 13.99 per cent of ADF-XII.

The Department for International Development (DFID) has made financial contributions through the establishment of a Technical Cooperation Arrangement (TCA) with the Bank in 2007 for GBP 13 million.

The TCA areas of focus are: infrastructure, private sector development, water, governance, institutional strengthening, knowledge management, climate change, aid effectiveness and fragile states.

Since the 1970s, DFID has provided secondments and technical assistance to enhance the quality of Bank’s operations. The most recent secondments and technical assistance financed by DFID have been in financial management, climate change, governance and infrastructure.

In 2010, the UK Government carried out a “Multilateral Aid Review (MAR)”, which assessed its funding of international agencies such as the AfDB, the World Bank and the United Nations. MAR aimed to ensure that the UK gets maximum value for UK aid through its contributions to multilateral organizations. While the African Development Fund was found good in demonstrating value for UK aid, the report recommended the Bank further improve effectiveness of development operations through implementation of its decentralization policy.

Joint initiatives

The UK, through DFID, contributes to the following multi-donor trust funds and initiatives:

• The African Water Facility (AWF) – (GBP 15 million): The AWF was established in 2005 to assist African countries to meet the goals and targets for the water sector in line with the African Water Vision (AWV) and the Framework for Action (FFA). 
• Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF) – (GBP 50 million): The CBFF was established in 2008 to support innovative and transformational approaches geared towards:
  • Developing the capacity of the people and institutions in the countries of the Congo Basin to enable them to effectively manage their forests;
  • Helping local communities find livelihoods that are consistent with sustainable conservation of forests; and
  • Reducing the rate of deforestation through new financial mechanisms and appropriate models.
• Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA) – (GBP 1.5 million): ICA was launched at the G8 Gleneagles Summit in 2005 to support the scaling up of investment for infrastructure development in Africa from both public and private sources.
• NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) – (GBP 6 million): NEPAD-IPPF was established in 2005 to support the preparation of viable and bankable regional infrastructure projects and programs in Africa. The aim is to attract more public and private investments for the development of infrastructure to the benefit of the Regional Member Countries of the Bank.
• Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund (Zim-Fund) – (GBP 10 million): Zim-Fund was established in 2010 to contribute to early recovery and development efforts in Zimbabwe. The thematic scope of the Fund initially focuses on infrastructure investments in water and sanitation, and energy.

Contact

Mr. Shingo Kikuchi
Senior Cooperation Officer
Partnerships and Cooperation Unit (ORRU)
Tel: (216) 71 10 1714