The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and UK Export Finance (UKEF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen cooperation on co-financing projects across Africa and mobilise additional resources for the continent’s sustainable development.The agreement, the first framework agreement between the two institutions, was signed by Abdul Kamara, Officer in Charge, Vice President of the African Development Bank Group, and Tim Reid, Chief Executive of UK Export Finance, on 21 October in Conakry, Guinea, on the sidelines of the fifth UK–West and Central Francophone Africa Trade and Investment Forum (WCAF V).
The Memorandum of Understanding provides a framework for the two institutions to identify, assess and develop co-financing opportunities for sovereign and non-sovereign operations in the Bank’s regional member countries, drawing on each institution’s financial instruments. The partnership will bring together development finance and export credit to crowd in additional capital for Africa’s strategic investments.
Priority areas include energy, infrastructure, water and sanitation, health, digital infrastructure, critical minerals, supply chain resilience, alongside agriculture and trade finance. The partnership supports the Bank Group’s efforts to mobilise capital at scale, in line with its Four Cardinal Points strategic priorities.
“This agreement deepens the relationship between UK Export Finance and the African Development Bank Group,” said Tim Reid, Chief Executive, UK Export Finance. “By combining our financial instruments and expertise, we can unlock greater co-financing for the infrastructure, energy and trade priorities that matter most to Africa’s growth. UKEF is committed to supporting that ambition, and this partnership will help us do so at greater scale.”
The agreement builds on longstanding ties between the bank and the United Kingdom, which joined the African Development Fund in 1973 and became a member of the African Development Bank in 1983. UKEF, established in 1919 as the world’s first export credit agency, provides financing and insurance to support British companies and is increasingly active across Africa.
The pact comes as Africa faces an annual development financing gap estimated at $400 billion, with experts calling for stronger financial systems to help the continent mobilise capital at scale. The AfDB’s New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD) initiative has been highlighted as a timely response to this challenge.
For Africa, the partnership signals a new phase in how development finance and export credit can be combined to unlock larger co-financing flows for the continent’s most pressing needs. The challenge now is to translate the framework into concrete projects that deliver infrastructure, energy and trade outcomes across the continent.
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