The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have signed an agreement to strengthen their collaboration on sustainable economic development, aimed at boosting infrastructure development and economic opportunities across the African continent.
The memorandum of understanding, which builds on a previous agreement signed in 2018, was signed by AfDB Group President Akinwumi Adesina and AIIB’s founding President and Chair of the Board, Jin Liqun.
The signing took place on the sidelines of a meeting of multilateral development bank leaders held the same day in Paris, France.
The agreement outlines continued collaboration in six priority areas aligned with the AfDB Group’s 2024–2033 Ten-Year Strategy, as well as AIIB’s Corporate Strategy and its Non-Regional Member Country Operational Financing Strategy.
These priority areas include green infrastructure, industrialization, private capital mobilization—including public-private partnerships—cross-border connectivity, digitization, and policy-based financing.
The MoU also promotes co-financing, co-guaranteeing, and other joint financial participation in development projects, primarily in the area of sustainable infrastructure. Current cooperation between AfDB and AIIB includes the provision of guarantees to support Egypt’s historic first Panda sustainable bond issuance in 2023, valued at 3.5 billion Chinese yuan (RMB).
This landmark issuance, backed by guarantees from both AfDB and AIIB—each with AAA ratings—helped de-risk the transaction, enabling Egypt to secure competitive terms and investor confidence.
“This partnership remains an effective lever for economic development in our member countries, particularly in infrastructure. By reaffirming our commitment today, we are improving access to energy by accelerating the implementation of Mission 300, which aims to connect 300 million people to electricity by 2030,” said Adesina, as quoted on the Bank’s official website.
For Jin Liqun, “Renewing our partnership with the African Development Bank reflects AIIB’s commitment to supporting sustainable development beyond Asia. Through this collaboration, we can leverage our combined expertise to implement transformative projects that will benefit millions across the continent and create prosperity through quality infrastructure investment.”
