TDB and AFD to Improve Resilience of Health Systems in Africa

The USD 122.5 million line of credit from AFD to TDB – supported by a EUR 450,000 health-focused technical assistance programme already under implementation – will facilitate the financing of health projects undertaken by public and private sectors in the region served by TDB and support the development of TDB's expertise in this sector. It is the first time that AFD extends a line of credit fully dedicated to the health sector. 

The health and economic crisis spurred on by the Covid-19 pandemic has reemphasized how crucial the improvement of healthcare systems is, and in particular health infrastructures which need to be increased and strengthened on a sustainable basis, on a continent where the number of hospital beds per inhabitant is insufficient. One of the main challenges in this context is the lack of long-term funding to finance social sectors, especially the health sector, in line with the aspirations of the Abuja Declaration of 2001, whereby African Union Member States committed to allocate 15% of their government budget to health.

TDB is one of the leading multilateral development banks in Africa, and a member of International Development Finance Club (IDFC). With its mandate to finance and foster trade, regional economic integration, and sustainable development in the region it serves, TDB wishes to develop projects in the health sector, in line with the strategies of its Member States’ governments. It is within this context and following the announcement of AFD’s Health in Common Initiative, that TDB and AFD decided to collaborate in this sector.

Together, the facility and technical assistance programme provide for the support to the development of a health strategy for TDB and an appraisal tool to analyse the impact and viability of projects financed by TDB in this sector, and finally, for the financing of eligible projects.  

The relation between TDB and AFD started almost a decade ago, with a technical assistance programme launched in 2012, which led to the signing, in 2017, of a first credit agreement amounting to USD 75 million to finance development infrastructures, with a new technical assistance program dedicated to strengthening climate finance and environmental and social assessments, which in turn, allowed for the signing of a USD 150 million credit line last year.

Admassu Tadesse, TDB Group Managing Director and President Emeritus said “This new health line of credit will enable TDB to step-up its interventions in a meaningful way in the region’s health sector. The pandemic has indeed exposed the important challenges we are still facing on the continent and globally in the sector, and led financiers in particular to renew their commitment to synergize, and together scale-up and speed-up the financing of SDG 5, Good Health and Well Being, as well as SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, among other sustainable development goals.”

For Ghislain de Valon, AFD Kenya country Director: “This new partnership between both our institutions further deepens our alignment to Sustainable Development Goals and to the joint declaration of Public Development Banks launched during the Finance in Common Summit held in Paris in November 2020, that was hosted by AFD. TDB and AFD already partnered in August 2020 to boost investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation projects through a USD 150 million green infrastructure line of credit, and I am happy to see the partnership continuing”. 

In the past few years, TDB has contributed to the financing of region’s hospital infrastructure and pharmaceutical projects. In 2020, in addition to providing urgently needed PPE and medical supplies in its Member States, TDB has supported the construction of and financing of equipment for hospitals and clinics in different Member States to boost the capacity of health systems. This new AFD health line of credit will give TDB the firepower needed to significantly expand its role in the sector. 

Contact:

• AFD: Bérénice Oreyo-Pierronnet
• TDB : Anne-Marie Iskandar