The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and Agence Francaise de Développement strenghten their partnership for the next five years to co-finance sustainable development projects in the Global South.
published on 03 July 2023
Waleed Sh. A. Albahar, acting Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab and economic Developpement (KFAED), and Mr. Bertrand Walckenaer, deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), signed their first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to guide cooperation and co-financing over the period 2023-2028 on June 27th in Paris, in the presence of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ms Catherine Colonna and Cheikh Salem al-Sabah.
The MoU aims at reinforcing the strategic and operational collaboration between KFAED, the bilateral development agency of the State of Kuwait, and AFD, France’s public bilateral development bank, through project development and co-financing in developing countries, with a focus on Africa.
KFAED and AFD join their forces to support sustainable development projects. This new collaboration will focus on various sectors with a priority on tackling climate change and biodiversity loss issues.
In the past, KFAED and AFD already cofinanced projects, in particular in Algeria (reconstruction post-earthquake in 2003), Morocco (infrastructures, roads in 2007) and Comoros (budget support, 2007). in Building on their mutual expertise and knowledge development financing, this MoU aims at strengthening the partnership between the two institutions.
Besides cofinancing development projects, KFAED and AFD will also collaborate on global advocacy to mobilize additional public and private finance for the Sustainable Development Goals, for example, through the Finance in Common Movement (FiCS) gathering 530 public development banks worldwide. The next annual summit will take place in Cartagena (Colombia) on the 5th and 6th of September 2023.
“I am very pleased today to sign a first joint Memorandum of Understanding with the Kuwait Fund For Arab and Economic Development in the presence of our respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs. It concretely sets concessional cofinancing objectives for the countries, which need it most, priority sectors of collaboration and a basis for operational exchanges at regional hub levels as well as at general management levels, to achieve them. It is exactly what we aim to do at a larger scale in the Finance in Common Movement, representing 530 public development banks, be they bilateral, regional, multilateral or domestic, which can all contribute to redirect investment flows towards the SDGs” commented Mr Bertrand Walkenaer, deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), AFD
“Developing countries are now facing increased and compounded development challenges that require now more than ever our concerted efforts and joint support. AFD is a prominent actor in the global development arena and we look forward to enhancing our partnership under this Memorandum in the future for the benefit of the most disadvantaged countries around the world”, said Mr Waleed Sh. A. Albahar, acting Director General of the KFAED.
Contacts
AFD: Marianne Périquoi-Macé, periquoimacem@afd.fr, press officer
KFAED: Khaled F. Alkhaled, ALKHALEDK@KUWAIT-FUND.ORG
