The African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional financing arm of the African Development Bank Group, has secured a record $11bn for its 17th replenishment (ADF-17)—the largest fundraising outcome in the Fund's history—signalling a decisive shift toward investment-led development across the continent. Backed by 43 development partners, the replenishment reflects a 23% increase over the previous cycle, achieved despite tight global fiscal conditions and shrinking aid budgets. The outcome underscores renewed confidence in Africa's development trajectory and in the African Development Bank Group's leadership and evolving financing approach. "This is not just a replenishment—it is a turning point," said Sidi Ould Tah, President of the African Development Bank Group. "In one of the most challenging global environments for development finance, our partners chose ambition over retrenchment, and investment over inertia." For the first time in the ADF's history, 23 African countries contributed directly, pledging a combined $182.7m—five times the level of the previous cycle. Nineteen countries contributed for the first time, alongside long-standing regional supporters. "This is transformational," Ould Tah said. "Africa is no longer only a beneficiary of concessional finance. Africa is a co-investor in its own future." ADF-17 introduces a significant shift in how concessional resources are deployed. Partners endorsed a new financial framework enabling the Fund to leverage its balance sheet, operationalise a Market Borrowing Option, employ innovative instruments such as hybrid capital, and use concessional resources to absorb risk and crowd in private investment. Currently, every dollar invested through the Fund mobilises more than $2.50 in co-financing and private capital—a ratio expected to increase under the new model. "This enables concessional finance to do what it does best—absorb risk, unlock private capital and accelerate development at scale," Ould Tah added. ADF-17 also anchors a new generation of scaled, risk-sharing partnerships. Major commitments include up to $800m from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and up to $2bn from the OPEC Fund for International Development, significantly enhancing the Fund's ability to drive transformational projects in difficult operating environments. Resources mobilised under ADF-17 will support 37 low-income and fragile African countries, with priorities including energy access, food system resilience, human capital, regional integration and trade, and climate-resilient infrastructure. Targeted support will continue for countries facing fragility and vulnerability, including through the Transition Support Facility. The record replenishment positions the African Development Fund at the centre of a new era of African ownership, risk-sharing and investment-driven development, further reinforcing its role as a catalyst for sustainable growth across the continent.
