What is the African Development Bank?
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is a regional, multilateral development bank whose shareholders include 53 countries in Africa and 24 non-African countries from the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The United States is the second largest non-regional shareholder, with approximately 6.62 of the Bank’s total share holdings. The latter are also participants in the African Development Fund (ADF). The Bank was created in 1964, and began operations in 1967 to promote economic development and social progress of its regional member countries (RMCs)—individually and jointly. The central goals of Bank activities are to promote sustainable economic growth and to reduce poverty in Africa. The Bank provides financing for a broad range of development projects and programs. In addition, it: (I) provides policy based loans and equity investments, and finances non-publicly guaranteed private-sector loans; (II) offers technical assistance for projects and programs that provide institutional support; (III
