African Financing Partnership

Financing Gateway to Africa-A Collaborative Platform for Catalyzing Financing in Africa

Objectives and Rationale

• The African Financing Partnership (AFP) is an organized collaboration and co-financing platform among Development Financing Institutions (DFIs) with strong Africa experience that optimizes the use of their consolidated market knowledge and project financing skills.
• There is an evident need for partnerships, including amongst development finance institutions, as a vital component of enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of large and complex financings in Africa. 
• The AFP was formally initiated in September 2008, following a year long multi-stakeholder dialogue, to create a platform for collaborative financing in Africa.
• Become a self-managed pool of funds - ”fixed syndication” - have streamlined operational modalities that provide for strong oversight and control ensuring quality and adherence with strategic objectives.
• Have a modus operandi that “crowds in” private financial institutions, thus enabling leveraging of DFI financing with private capital flows alongside.

AFP Structure

• To create a harmonious partnership among a limited number of larger DFIs acting as Promoting Partners with strong Africa experience, similar risk management resources, common project pipeline and the capability to absorb responsibility for due diligence and appraisals on behalf of the others.
• To expand, structure and systematize the partnership towards facilitating additional co-financing by interested DFIs in a second tier as Participating Partners.
• To formalize the AFP structure and act as conduit for the commitments by other partners. At this stage commercial sources would be invited to participate in a third tier as Commercial Partners.

AFP Consultations held today

The Private Sector Operations at the African Development Bank (AfDB) organized a discussion on the AFP with select DFIs at AfDB’s Annual Meetings 2008 in Maputo, Mozambique in May 2008.  This was followed by an AFP Roundtable organized by the World Economic Forum in Cape Town on 3-4 June 2008, which involved discussions with several commercial financial institutions. The overall consensus and agreement regarding the need for collaboration led to the encouragement to take forward the concept of AFP into implementation.

A technical meeting on AFP was organized in Tunis on 29 September 2008 at the AfDB wherein the investment officers on a pilot project from the participating and interested DFIs, were invited. Detailed technical, financial, environmental and social analysis was discussed.  Interest was expressed by bilateral European and African DFIs in potentially collaborating under the AFP.

A further strategic meeting was held in Washington DC on 11 October 2008 involving the Africa strategic business heads of several European and African DFIs. With overall strong encouragement by most DFIs on collaborative financing in Africa, the process for establishment of an AFP Secretariat at AfDB is underway.

For further information, contact :

• Preeti Sinha
  Coordinator, African Financing Partnership, AfDB
  Tel: +216 71 10 3209
  p.sinha@afdb.org