Georgia

AFD Group supports Georgia in building a sustainable and inclusive model of society based on values it shares with the European Union. While Georgia has achieved impressive results in lifting people out of poverty, as well as improving their overall well-being, people remain vulnerable and tempted to emigrate.

AFD and Expertise France have supported Georgia's social protection policies since 2016. We have provided assistance to the government for the creation of the Georgian Pension Agency and the upgrade of mental health policy. In 2020, Proparco supported the upgrade of the Evex private hospital services.

Since 2022, AFD and the World Bank have supported Georgia’s human capital development programme, to support citizens to 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 and promotes reforms of public enterprises and prioritization of public investments. Proparco encourages the development of Georgian SMEs, through the support of financial institutions (leading banks, microfinance institutions, and leasing organizations).

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 Ministries of Environmental Protection and Agriculture and of Georgian Amelioration to modernize irrigation schemes in the Zemo-Samgori perimeter. They are also collaborating on the establishment of an agribusiness cluster with greater productivity, and with the Asian Development Bank to support institutional reform of water and irrigation management.

Georgia is facing challenges connecting with the rest of the world due to infrastructural, institutional and logistical bottlenecks. AFD is working on regional connectivity via the support of the Georgian Railway to optimize green Trans-Caucasian corridors.

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 and the improvement of the bus network.

With a vast hydropower potential and favorable location to sell electricity, 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 European Union, AFD co-finances an ambitious 6-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 market 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.