Multinational - West African Development Bank (WADB)

The present project concerns the strengthening of the financial capacities of the West African Development Bank (WADB), through (i) participation in its capital increase and (ii) the granting of a second line of credit to provide it with the medium and long-term resources necessary for its expansion. Created on 14 November 1973 and based in Lomé (Togo), the WADB is the common development finance institution of the member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). This operation follows a first loan of 40 million Euros which was fully disbursed and 90% used one year after it was made available. It will contribute to the implementation of the strategic option taken by the WADB to make private sector financing a key element of its development plan by reserving at least 60% of its financing for the next three years. Overall, the project will (i) strengthen the WADB in its role as a strategic partner of the Bank in the financing of the private sector in West Africa; (ii) provide access to medium and long-term resources, identified by the WADB in its strategic plan as a constraint to the achievement of its development mission, (iii) improve the adequacy of its resources and its uses.