The African Development Bank

The African Development Bank has long recognised that infrastructure investment has a central role in the development agenda and is critical for supporting economic growth, poverty reduction and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Some of the facts about the situation of continent’s infrastructure include that 40 percent of the population in Africa lacks access to safe water or basic sanitation, only 30 percent of the rural population in Sub-Saharan Africa has access to all-season roads and transport costs is Africa are among the highest in the world.

New Procurement Policy of the African Development Bank

Since October 2015, procurement by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is based on a new procurement framework. The key feature of the new framework is the achievement of value for money by borrowers based on a dynamic and differentiated fit-for-purpose approach to procurement transactions, including the use of Borrower Procurement Systems for some contracts whilst retaining customised methods and procedures for more complex tenders. The AfDB estimates that the policy change will lead to projects being completed about eight months faster and resulting in over US$ 200 million in economic benefits annually.

China dominates AfDB infrastructure tenders

AfDB’s latest available Procurement Report for the year 2012 shows that, between 2008 and 2011, China accounted for a quarter of all contracts, mainly because of the strong competitiveness of Chinese firms in the area of civil works where they were successful in the transport sector and in water supply and sanitation projects. The largest single contract in 2012, valued at US$ 130 million, was awarded as well to a Chinese firm in a transport project for a multinational project in East Africa.

AfDB Procurement Reports
AfDB Procurement Statistics
PIDA Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa