Georgia

Georgia, as a pivotal country in the South Caucasus, has undergone a series of reforms that has modernized its development strategy, despite a fragile socioeconomic context and an unstable geostrategic environment. Since 2012, AFD, alongside peer institutions, supports Georgia with a “green and inclusive growth” mandate, via projects in the following sectors: regional connectivity, energy, agriculture, water resources management and human capital development.
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Tbilissi-city
GEORGIA AND AFD: INCREASING THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMIC POTENTIAL AND BOOSTING GROWTH
Tbilisi, Georgia

Building sustainable and inclusive economic and political models

Evex-Géorgia

Building sustainable and inclusive economic and political models

AFD accompanies Georgia in building a sustainable and inclusive model of society based on values shared with the European Union. While Georgia has achieved impressive results in lifting people out of poverty, as well as improving their overall well-being, some groups remain vulnerable and attracted by emigration.

AFD and Expertise France have been supporting Georgia's social welfare policies since 2016. AFD Group has provided assistance to the government of Georgia notably for the creation of the Georgian Pension Agency and the upgrade of mental health policy.

Since 2022, AFD alongside peer institutions supports Georgia's human capital development program, to help citizens access quality education and health, skills development and employment. 

AFD is also working to ensure Georgia's macroeconomic stability. It supported the State budget during the recent Covid-19 crisis by promoting reforms of State-owned enterprises and prioritization of public investments.
 

Sustainable management of territories and preservation of natural resources

agriculture-Georgia

Sustainable management of territories and preservation of natural resources

Addressing inequalities across the country means reviving rural areas through agricultural and agro-industrial development, promoting integrated management of water resources, and fostering the connectivity of the country.

Since 2019, AFD has been implementing the EU-funded FinExCoop project to develop new models for farmers' inclusion in markets and access to technologies, and for the promotion of cooperative models. Building on this experience, AFD is now working with Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture and Georgian Amelioration Agency to set up a sustainable water management framework. This project is two-sided: it firstly aims at supporting institutional reform of water and irrigation management, through budget financing and public policy dialogue. Secondly, it addresses the rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation schemes in the the Zemo-Samgori region to increase local agricultural productivity. AFD works with several partners, such as ADB, EIB and the EU for the financing of those components.

Georgia is facing challenges to be connected to the rest of the world due to infrastructural, institutional and logistical bottlenecks. AFD is working on regional connectivity through the support of the Georgian Railway in order to optimize green Transcaucasian corridors.
 

 

Supporting urban adaptations

Supporting urban adaptations in Georgia, AFD

Supporting urban adaptations

AFD supports the development of public services in Georgian major cities and middle-sized towns, by funding urban infrastructure such as water and sanitation systems, as well as urban mobility.

Since 2019, AFD finances the rehabilitation and the expansion of the water supply and sanitation infrastructure of the city of Khashuri

Technical assistance is provided to the public operator, United Water Supply Company of Georgia, for improving the quality of services in the city. In parallel, AFD supports the ongoing reforms of the water and sanitation sector, in association with the Asian Development Bank. 

As air pollution is high in Georgia and as its capital Tbilisi has major mobility-related challenges, AFD cooperates with the land transport agency of the Tbilisi Municipality to support the development of a sustainable urban mobility plan. 

Fostering the energy transition

Inguri hydroelectric dam, energy, Georgia

Fostering the energy transition

With vast hydropower potential and favorable location, Georgia could become a regional energy hub. Georgia joined the European Energy Community in 2017, committing to adapt its laws to the European energy directives. Together with KfW and the EU, AFD co-finances an ambitious multi-year policy reform program to support the country in its efforts to structure the electricity market, as well as to develop an adequate regulatory framework for the development of renewable energies and energy efficiency.

AFD has mobilized technical assistance to support this program – notably on impact mitigation of the electricity market reform on vulnerable populations in Georgia. The Georgian State Electrosystem company (GSE) also benefits from a cooperation program implemented by French electricity experts (EDF and RTE), to improve the electricity system planning and optimization, and to deploy the balancing market, which are both key for renewable energies integration.
 

11
projects financed since 2019
715
millions euro commited since 2019
44,000
beneficiaries with improved access to drinking water in Khashuri municipality

Georgia is a small country with less than 4 million inhabitants located between the Black Sea and the Caucasus mountain range. For more than a decade now, Georgia has been engaged in major economic and political reforms. These reforms focused on tackling poverty and modernizing the institutional, legal and economic framework, closer to European standards.

However, the country faces a challenging geostrategic environment and is largely impacted by the consequences of the 2008 war with Russia, regular conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Georgia also suffers from a number of socioeconomic weaknesses while being particularly vulnerable to climate change.

The country consequently needs to find the resources to achieve economic stability. Georgia’s touristic and agricultural potential is large. It has a strategic position on the commercial routes linking Asia and Europe.

AFD has opened a representative office in Tbilisi in 2017. Our projects focus on urban and rural development, infrastructures, governance and renewable energy. AFD supports the country via sovereign and non-sovereign loans and grants from the Neighbourhood Investment Platform – East of the European Union.

AFD's activities and operations in Georgia are directly attached to the Eurasia regional office based in Istanbul, Turkey.

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News & Events

Georgia Energy and Green Sector Reform Agenda Continues with Support of KfW, AFD and EU

Press Release

Georgia Energy and Green Sector Reform Agenda Continues
AFD and Ministry of Finance of Georgia sign the Policy-Based Loan co-financing Water Supply and Sanitation Reform of Georgia

Press Release

Policy-Based Loan in Favor of the Water Supply and Sanitation Reform

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