African Development Fund (ADF): aid, grants and priorities

What is the African Development Fund

The African Development Fund (ADF) is the concessional financing window of the African Development Bank Group, which was created in 1972. It is jointly owned by African and non-African countries, and it provides grants, loans at low interest rates and guarantees to low-income African countries, for sustainable development projects.

Role of the ADF within the AfDB Group

Within the Group, the African Development Bank lends on market terms to middle-income countries and to the private sector, whereas the ADF is aimed at the poorest countries, which would not be able to bear those terms. Since its creation it has invested more than 45 billion dollars, mainly in sustainable infrastructure that is resilient to climate change, and also in governance, in public financial management and in debt sustainability.

Its resources come mainly from the contributions of its partners, which are renewed in cycles of three years during replenishment sessions. The previous cycle, which ran from 2022 to 2025, had mobilised 8.9 billion dollars.

ADF financing: conditions and eligible countries

Thirty-seven low-income African countries, which are among the least advanced on the continent, are eligible for the resources of the Fund. Affordable financing limits the growth of these countries' debt, and states in a situation of fragility benefit from targeted support through the Transition Support Facility.

Financing takes the form of grants for the countries most exposed to the risk of over-indebtedness, of loans on very favourable terms and of guarantees that reduce the cost of risk for investors. The most recent cycle also introduces an option to borrow on the markets, which enables the Fund to mobilise more resources on the basis of its balance sheet.

Replenishment of resources: ADF-17

The seventeenth replenishment of the resources of the African Development Fund was held in London on 16 December 2025, co-organised by the United Kingdom and Ghana. It brought together 11 billion dollars from 43 partners, which is 23% more than the previous cycle, an amount that is a record in the history of the Fund. The programme covers the years 2026 to 2028.

Twenty-four African countries contributed approximately 180 million dollars, twenty of them for the first time. The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) announced up to 800 million dollars and the OPEC Fund for International Development announced up to 2 billion dollars.

ADF priorities for the new cycle

The resources of ADF-17 are aimed at access to energy, food systems and food security, human capital, regional integration and trade, as well as resilient infrastructure. For every dollar the Fund invests, more than 2.50 dollars of co-financing and private capital are already attracted.