African Development Bank Group

African Development Bank Group

Summary of African Development Bank Group

A multilateral development organization, the first component of which, the African Development Bank, was created in 1963 under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The group provides funding to African states and multinational official bodies in Africa to advance industrial, agricultural, and infrastructure development. Initially, membership in the bank was restricted to African states. To attract participation by industrial nations in African development projects, the African Development Fund was organized, to which nonregional, i.e., non-African, states were admitted. The bank subsequently accepted nonregional members as well. The bank invests in projects with the object of improving the economic base of a sector or region; while funding terms are concessional, projects must be commercially sound and offer a reasonable likeli-hood of repayment. The fund concentrates its re-sources in the neediest African nations. The authorized capital of the bank consists of 525,000 shares having a par value of 10,000 units of account (UA) each. On December 31, 1983, the sub-scribed capital was UA 5,048,120,000. The unit of account is equal to one SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHT (read this and related legal terms for further details) (SDR). Prior to December 31, 1977, the UA was nominally equivalent to .88867088 grams of fine gold.

The financial resources of the fund are derived from the industrial countries. The fund issues no shares; voting is proportional to the subscriptions of the members, with one exception: the African B45De-velopment Bank, which is a subscriber, enjoys fifty percent of the voting power in the fund. This arrangement permits the African states, through their membership in the bank, to have a voice in fund affairs equal to that of the industrial nations.

Total subscriptions to the fund equal 2,168,097,305fund units of account (FUA). The FUA is equal to .921052 SDR.

During the period 1982-86, it is envisaged that bank lending will increase from U.S. $890 million to U.S. $2,188 million; total commitments of the group within this period are expected to reach U.S. $7,259 million. Allocation of the group’s sectoral lending during 1982-86 is projected as follows: Agriculture 33 percent

Transport 22

Public utilities 20

Industry and development banks 11 Social 9

New forms of lending 5

Headquarters of the bank and the fund are in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. In Fiscal Year 1983, members in the bank were:

Regional members:

Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Fasso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Congo

Djibouti

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Ethiopia

Gabon

Gambia

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Ivory Coast

Kenia

Lesotho

Liberia Senegal

Libya Seychelles

Madagascar Sierra Leone

Malawi Somalia

Mali Sudan

Mauritania Swaziland

Mauritius Tanzania

Morocco Togo

Mozambique Tunisia

Niger Uganda

Nigeria Zaire

Rwanda Zambia

Sao Tome & Principe Zimbabwe.

Nonregional members:

Austria Korea (South

Belgium Kuwait

Brazil Netherlands

Canada Norway

Denmark Portugal

Finland Saudi Arabia

France Sweden

German Federal Republic Switzerland

India United Kingdom

Italy United States

Japan Yugoslavia.

Subscribers to the fund at the outset of Fiscal Year 1984, with their respective voting powers, were: Participant Votes Percentage

African Development Bank 1.000.00 50.00

Argentina 1.17 .06

Austria 11.24 .56

Belgium 12.32 .62

Brazil 13.35 .67

Canada 110.79 5.54

Denmark 38.21 1.91

Finland 13.09 .65

France 63.24 3.16

German Federal Republic 100.76 5.54

India 8.23 .41

Italy 35.20 1.76

Japan 130.44 6.52

Korea 11.85 .59

Kuwait 14.36 .72

Netherlands 21.12 1.06

Norway 44.93 2.25

Portugal 4.69 .23

Saudi Arabia 36.20 1.81

Spain 11.15 .56

Sweden 62.50 3.13

Switzerland 45.01 2.25

United Arab Emirates 5.28 .26

United Kingdom 47.55 2.38

United States 148.23 7.41

Yugoslavia 9.09 .45

(Main Author: William J. Miller)


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