African Development Bank Sets Out Finance and Resilience Priorities at UN Assembly

At a roundtable convened by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Akin-Olugbade called for stronger multilateral cooperation and financing that follows nationally owned priorities.

The African Development Bank Group used the 81st United Nations General Assembly to advance proposals to finance Africa's development, strengthen institutions, and prevent crises from undermining progress. The supplied institutional report, which includes no original study title or journal name, describes meetings in New York from 20 to 25 September covering development finance, critical minerals, energy access, employment, peacebuilding and resilience.

Senior Vice President Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade led the delegation on behalf of Bank Group President Sidi Ould Tah. Its agenda reflected the pressures facing African countries: tighter financing conditions, rising debt, climate shocks, humanitarian emergencies and the need to create opportunities for a rapidly growing young population.

Three priorities shaped the discussions: financing economic transformation, building partnerships capable of delivering large programmes and strengthening resilience before crises take hold.

Financing Development Through Stronger African Institutions

The Bank connected its UN engagements to its Strategic Four Cardinal Points and the New African Financial Architecture for Development, known as NAFAD. This framework seeks to mobilise domestic savings, strengthen African financial institutions and reduce the continent's annual development-financing gap.

At a roundtable convened by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Akin-Olugbade called for stronger multilateral cooperation and financing that follows nationally owned priorities. She emphasised opportunities for young people and faster progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

The proposed financing tools included guarantees, blended finance, strategic equity investments and stronger capital markets, all intended to channel investment into infrastructure, trade, industrialisation and the green transition. Together, these approaches could help public and private investors support projects that struggle to attract sufficient financing.

Akin-Olugbade described the Bank's task as turning discussions into practical action through capital mobilisation, resilient institutions and opportunities that improve people's lives.

Expanding Insurance and Guarantees to Support Investment

At a meeting of G7 development ministers, the Bank presented its support for African Trade and Investment Development Insurance, or ATIDI, as an example of strengthening an established African institution with an investment-grade standing and a profitable business.

A $125 million equity investment increased the Bank's stake fivefold, making it ATIDI's largest shareholder and strategic anchor. The investment forms part of a broader effort to expand the capacity of African institutions to manage risks that can discourage investment.

The Bank and its partners are developing a Pan-African Guarantee Platform under NAFAD to coordinate guarantees, insurance and risk-sharing. Their goal is to help ATIDI reach $2 billion in paid-in capital and $20 billion in annual guarantee capacity, potentially closing half of Africa's guarantee gap.

Those figures represent ambitions for expanded capacity, rather than results already achieved. The platform's development will help translate the Bank's financing proposals into investment support.

Partnerships Connect Jobs, Development and Peace

The delegation met governments, regional organisations, UN agencies and businesses throughout the week, reflecting the range of partners needed to move development programmes forward.

Discussions with the President of Comoros, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the African Union High Representative for Silencing the Guns addressed peace, regional integration and development. Meetings with the UN Global Compact, UNICEF and UNHCR covered resource mobilisation, employment and the challenges facing fragile settings. Two Letters of Intent established a basis for closer cooperation with the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, known as GCERF, and the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office.

The Bank–UN agreement, signed by Akin-Olugbade and Amina Mohammed, will support joint analysis, financing approaches for investments that contribute to peace, and stronger coordination within countries. The GCERF agreement will connect community-led prevention efforts with development investment in fragile and conflict-affected areas. These partnerships reflect the approach promoted by Ould Tah: bringing institutions together around programmes that combine financing with local knowledge and coordinated delivery.

Preparing for Shocks Before They Become Repeated Crises

Marking ten years since the World Humanitarian Summit, Akin-Olugbade called for greater investment in prevention, resilient institutions and livelihoods. Her message centred on addressing the conditions that drive fragility, so countries are better equipped to withstand future shocks. Closer coordination among humanitarian, peacebuilding and development organisations is central to that approach. Financing needs to support immediate needs and the institutions and economic opportunities that can reduce vulnerability over time.

The delegation highlighted the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Programme, delivered with African Risk Capacity, as a practical example of preparedness. By arranging sovereign insurance before disasters occur, the programme helps governments access funding quickly after a shock. The Bank's next step is to work with governments, UN organisations, investors and African financial institutions to turn these commitments into programmes that can attract investment and produce measurable results.

The delegation included Vice President Kevin Urama; Abdul Kamara, Officer-in-Charge of the Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Vice Presidency; Directors Yero Baldeh, Daniel Schroth and Catherine Baumont-Keita; Lead Operations Advisor Oscar Rivera Pitti; and Presidential Lead Advisor Abdoul Salam Bello.

Across its engagements, the Bank placed African-led solutions at the centre of its development agenda, with stronger financial institutions and coordinated partnerships expected to carry the work from international meetings into country-level implementation.