Canada and the African Development Bank

Created in 1964, the African Development Bank's (AfDB) mission is to help reduce poverty, improve living conditions for Africans and mobilize resources for Africa's economic and social development in order to support the poorest region of the world.

The AfDB has 81 country members, with Canada becoming a member in 1982. Canada holds a permanent seat on the AfDB Board of Directors and is the fourth-largest non-African shareholder to the Bank. Canada also has a seat on the Board of Directors of the AfDB's African Development Fund (ADF), which it joined in 1972. The ADF contributes to the promotion of economic and social development in least-developed African countries by providing concessional funding for programs, as well as technical assistance and capacity-building activities.

Canada’s support for the African Development Bank

In December 2022, Canada renewed its support to the African Development Fund (ADF), announcing a contribution of $369.4 million for its Sixteenth Replenishment (ADF-16) over three years (2023-25), to contribute to economic and social development in the least developed African countries.

Canada’s Governor at the AfDB is the Minister for International Development.

Further information on Canada’s relationship with the AfDB, including shareholding, contributions and programming, can be found on the AfDB and Canada page.

Further information on joint projects and core funding provided to the AfDB by Canada can be found by doing a search by implementing partner in the advanced filters of the Project Browser.

Achievements

The AfDB is a key partner for Canada on the African continent and consistently delivers strong results. The AfDB's development indicators and targets are identified in a multi-year corporate results framework. The results framework is used to measure and monitor progress key objectives in the Bank's strategic plan. Results are reported through its Annual Development Effectiveness Review and Departmental Annual Reports.

Canada monitors the results of the AfDB to ensure it is delivering on its mandate to reduce poverty in the region and reports annually on the performance of international financial institutions, including the AfDB, in its report to Parliament on Canada's international assistance.