The African Development Bank convened its first meeting with Arab development finance institutions in Abidjan on Tuesday.
The meeting comes as Africa faces a widening development finance gap and an urgent need to mobilise large-scale capital for energy access, climate resilience, food security, regional integration, and private-sector-led growth amid declining support from Western donors.
Sidi Ould Tah, AfDB’s new president and a former Mauritanian finance minister, said closer collaboration with the Arab Coordination Group (ACG) is critical to bridging the widening gap in development finance caused by reduced spending from countries, including the United States.
The Arab Coordination Group (ACG), which includes the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Saudi Fund for Development, could provide long-term financing for priorities such as industrialisation and job creation, Tah added.
The two sides signed a formal declaration outlining new terms of engagement, including co-financing priorities. Rami Ahmad, vice president for operations at the OPEC Fund, said the approach will focus on a coordinated platform for long-term, large-scale projects across regions, rather than one-off investments in individual countries.
The Arab Coordination Group (ACG), established in 1975, is a strategic alliance designed to provide a coordinated approach to development finance. Over the years, it has supported more than 13,000 projects in over 160 countries, helping to drive economic and social development worldwide.
Arab development institutions have long been major investors in Africa, contributing billions of dollars to projects in infrastructure, sanitation, agriculture, and other critical sectors.
Tah said “external shocks” have widened the continent’s development financing gap, the difference between current funding and the amount needed to invest in ports, agriculture, and other critical infrastructure. In December, he estimated the gap at $402 billion annually.
Source: Africabusinessinsider