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| Name |
Formal Name |
Established |
Aim |
Members |
| (acronym) AfDB |
African Development Bank (its predecessor was Organization of African Unity - OAU) |
9 September 1999 |
to promote economic and social development |
53, regional; 24 nonregional |
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The African Development Bank Group, including the Bank itself (AfDB) and its "soft-loan" affiliate, the African Development Fund (AfDF), is a development finance institution based in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The Bank has 53 African members, as well as 24 non-regional members, including the United States. In the mid-1990s, the Bank faced management problems and difficulties arising from non-performing loans, but reforms launched in 1995 by a new Bank president, Omar Kabbaj, brought new pledges of support from the non-regionals. U.S. contributions to the Bank resumed in FY2000.
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The African Development Bank was founded as an exclusively African institution in 1964. Most African countries had just become independent amid great optimism about the continent's economic prospects. The Bank's charter reflected the belief that these prospects could best be furthered by self-reliance and cooperation among African states, rather than by reliance on outsiders. (3) Nigeria, the leading contributor to the Bank, and some other members were very concerned to maintain the Bank's "African character," but it soon became clear that the exclusively African membership of the Bank was limiting the amount of capital that could be raised. Consequently, in 1973, the United States and other donor countries from outside Africa were invited to join the African Development Fund, which had been created in 1972.
The sharp oil price rises of the mid 1970's worsened Africa's capital shortage while making it impossible for most African countries to consider increasing their contributions to the Bank. In 1976, oil-rich Nigeria did establish the Nigeria Trust Fund at the Bank to make development loans, particularly to low-income countries, but the Bank sought additional capital to help members cope with mounting economic difficulties. Finally, in 1982, non-regional countries were invited to join the Bank itself, although Bank policy limited them to a one-third share.
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regional members: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
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nonregional members: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, US.
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Organization
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Name: African Development Bank
Address: Abidjan, Cote d' lvoire
URL: #name
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