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Home/DFI Index/DFI Transparency Index 2025/AfDB – non-sovereign
DFI

DFI Transparency Index 2025

AfDB – non-sovereign

Score:
56.2
Position:
3 / 22 (Non-sovereign)

Overview

The African Development Bank (AfDB) promotes regional cooperation and unity across the African region. Its non-sovereign portfolio provides non-concessional and concessional loans, equity investments, loan guarantees, and technical assistance to lower and middle-income governments and the private sector. AfDB became an IATI member in 2011 and started publishing IATI data in June 2013. AfDB was established in 1964.

Analysis

Overall, AfDB’s non-sovereign portfolio ranked 3rd out of the 22 non-sovereign portfolios assessed, scoring 56.2 out of 100. It improved from a score of 51.4 in 2023 but dropped one ranking from its position as 2nd. While it performed well in the Core Information and Impact Management components, ranking 2nd and 1st, respectively, its score was lowered by its performance in the other components.

AfDB’s non-sovereign portfolio came 2nd in the Core Information component, with 15.58 out of 20, moving down one ranking from its position as 1st in 2023. AfDB scored for sixteen of the seventeen indicators, only failing to score for domicile. It scored 100 per cent for ten of these indicators because it publishes to IATI and provides data in a bulk export file. It failed to score for sub-indicators on sub-sector, total investment cost, disbursement, client contact, disclosure date and last update date.

AfDB’s non-sovereign portfolio kept its top position from 2023 for the Impact Management component, scoring 21 out of 25. Because of its progress on disclosing which impact standards it aligns to, it scored 100 per cent for organisational-level indicators in this component. As well as improved scores since 2023 for project-level additionality statements, it was one of only two non-sovereign portfolios to score 100 per cent for activity indicators/metrics. The only indicator it continued to not score for was results, due to its inconsistent disclosure of baseline and actual/current data.

In the ESG and Accountability to Communities component, AfDB ranked joint 5th with a score of 16 out of 25, moving up from its position as 7th in 2023. Because of having a free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) policy, it now scored 100 per cent for all organisational-level indicators. At the project-level, however, due to inconsistent disclosure, AfDB did not score for any indicators other than disclosure of the independent accountability mechanism (IAM) on project webpages. This is a setback from 2023 where it scored points for disclosing the minimum E&S documentation for the risk categorisation as well as disclosure of client shareholders. This time neither passed the sample threshold to score because of inconsistent disclosure.

AfDB ranked 13th in the Financial Information component, with a score of 2.33 out of 15. This is a drop from its position as joint 8th in 2023. One improvement was new basic co-financing disclosure at the project level. AfDB also scored on the new climate finance methodology indicator and continued to score on the financial reports/statements indicator. However, it still did not score on repeat investment, currency of investment, concessionality, mobilisation, and instrument-specific disclosure. AfDB did not score on any of the new project-level climate finance indicators.

In the Financial Intermediary (FI) Sub-Investments component, AfDB’s non-sovereign portfolio came joint 8th with a score of 1.25 out of 10. In 2023, it came 6th. Its performance stayed the same across all indicators in this component.

Core Information 15.58 / 20
Impact Management 21 / 25
ESG & Accountability to Communities 16 / 30
Financial Information 2.33 / 15
Financial Intermediary Sub-investments 1.25 / 10

Recommendations

  • AfDB should consistently publish Core Information data including domicile, sub-sector, total investment cost, disbursement, client contact, disclosure date and last update date.
  • It should consistently disclose baseline and actual/current value data for identified indicators.
  • AfDB should consistently disclose summary of E&S risks, E&S project plans/assessments, and assurance of community disclosure where required. It should also consistently disclose the shareholders of client companies as well as a beneficial ownership statement.
  • In the Financial Information component, AfDB should disclose several project-level indicators including repeat investment, currency of investment, detailed co-financing data, concessionality, mobilisation, and instrument-specific disclosure.
  • AfDB should systematically disclose whether investments include climate finance, amounts split by mitigation and adaptation, as well as a rationale for why climate finance has been counted.
  • AfDB should create a policy for FI sub-investment disclosure and then disclose sub-investments in line with Publish What You Fund’s DFI Transparency Tool.
Core Information 15.58 / 20
Impact Management 21 / 25
ESG & Accountability to Communities 16 / 30
Financial Information 2.33 / 15
Financial Intermediary Sub-investments 1.25 / 10

Deep Dive

Core Information

15.58 / 20
About component

The basic information that describes a DFI’s organisational policies and investments. This type of information is typically found in key organisation documents and represents the first tier of project information, typically disclosed on project web pages or in files available for bulk download. At the organisation level this includes access to information policies and annual reports. At the project level, this includes project titles, locations, and key dates.

Does the development finance institution (DFI) have a disclosure or access to information policy?0.75 / 0.75
Does the policy include a presumption of disclosure?0.75 / 0.75
Does the policy have limitations of commercially sensitive information and sensitive internal deliberations information?0 / 0.75
Does the policy have an independent appeals process?0.75 / 0.75
Does the DFI's portal allow free, bulk export of data?0.67 / 0.67
Does it contain detailed disaggregated data?0.67 / 0.67
Is the data published under an open licence?0.67 / 0.67
Does the DFI disclose an annual report?1 / 1
Does the DFI disclose a project title?0.5 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose a unique identifier for the project?0.5 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose the current status of the activity?1 / 1
Does the DFI disclose a description of the activity?0.5 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose the objectives, rationales, and expected outcomes of the activity?0.5 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose the country the activity takes place in?0.5 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose the sub-national location the activity takes place in?0.5 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose the domicile of the investee?0 / 1
Does the DFI disclose the activity as sovereign or non-sovereign? Or; Does the DFI disclose the activity as public sector or private sector?1 / 1
Does the DFI disclose the sector of the activity?0.5 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose the sub-sector of the activity?0 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose the investment instrument of an activity?1 / 1
Does the DFI disclose the total investment cost?0 / 0.33
Does the DFI disclose the DFI commitment for the investment?0.33 / 0.33
Does the DFI disclose the disbursement for the investment?0 / 0.33
Does the DFI disclose the source of funding for the investment?0.5 / 1
Does the DFI disclose the name of the client?0.5 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose a description of the client? (non-sovereign only)0.5 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose a relevant DFI contact?0.5 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose a relevant client contact?0 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose the environmental and social (E&S) risk category of the activity?1 / 1
Does the DFI disclose the date of activity disclosure?0 / 0.25
Does the DFI disclose the approval date of the activity?0.25 / 0.25
Does the DFI disclose the signature date of the activity?0.25 / 0.25
Does the DFI disclose the last update date of the project data?0 / 0.25

Impact Management

21 / 25
About component

The ways in which a DFI predicts, measures, and evaluates the impacts of their investments. At the organisation level, this includes an impact measurement approach. At the project level, this includes activity indicators/metrics and results.

Does the DFI publish a methodology explaining its approach to impact measurement?1.25 / 1.25
Does the DFI indicate which standards/initiatives it is aligned to?1.25 / 1.25
Does the DFI explain its approach to determining additionality? (non-sovereign only)1.25 / 1.25
Does the DFI explain its approach to determining impact attribution?1.25 / 1.25
Does the DFI publish sector or (multi-)country strategies?3 / 3
Does the DFI have a policy on the evaluation of investments?1.5 / 1.5
Does the DFI disclose the evaluations that it conducts?1.5 / 1.5
Does the DFI identify the development additionality of its investment? Or; Does the DFI identify the financial additionality of its investment?2 / 2
Does the DFI disclose results indicators for the activity?3 / 3
Does the DFI disclose metrics, definitions and/or methodologies for the indicators?3 / 3
Does the DFI disclose baseline data for identified indicators?0 / 2
Does the DFI disclose a target value for the indicators?2 / 2
Does the DFI disclose an actual/current value for the indicators?0 / 2

ESG & Accountability to Communities

16 / 30
About component

The ways in which a DFI predicts, mitigates, and communicates the ESG aspects of their activities. At the organisation level this includes E&S global disclosure policy and E&S community disclosure policy. At the project level this includes E&S plans and assessments, and assurance of community disclosure.

Does the DFI have a policy on early disclosure of investments?0.83 / 0.83
Does the DFI clearly articulate what E&S documentation will be disclosed for medium and high-risk projects?0.83 / 0.83
Does the DFI disclose the E&S policies/standards it applies (e.g. IFC Performance Standards or in-house policies) for its investments?0.83 / 0.83
Does the DFI have a policy that specifies when a document should be translated and in which language?0.83 / 0.83
Does the DFI disclose an explanation of project risk categorisation?0.83 / 0.83
Does the DFI disclose a list of investment exemptions?0.83 / 0.83
Does the DFI have a community disclosure policy?1 / 1
Does the policy require early disclosure to project-affected people?1 / 1
Does the DFI clearly articulate what E&S documentation will be disclosed to project-affected people for investments?1 / 1
Does the DFI have a free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) policy?1 / 1
Does the DFI disclose the availability of the Independent Accountability Mechanism (IAM) on its website?1 / 1
Does the DFI IAM have a publicly available registry that publishes results, responses, or findings?1 / 1
Does the DFI require clients to disclose the availability of the IAM to project-affected people where appropriate? Or; Does the DFI state that it will disclose the availability of IAM to project-affected people?2 / 2
Does the DFI require clients to disclose the availability of the project-level grievance mechanism (PGM) to project-affected people where appropriate? Or; Does the DFI state that it will disclose the availability of the PGM to project-affected people?2 / 2
Does the DFI disclose a summary of E&S risks for an activity?0 / 1
Are E&S standards triggered by the project identified?0 / 1
Does the DFI disclose the minimum E&S documentation for the risk categorisation?0 / 1.33
Does the DFI disclose what E&S documentation was produced for the activity?0 / 1.33
Does the DFI disclose all identified E&S documents that were produced for the activity?0 / 1.33
Does the DFI state if disclosure of the activity to projected-affected people was required?0 / 0.75
If yes, then: Does the DFI state the date of community E&S disclosure?0 / 0.75
Does the DFI state the place of community E&S disclosure?0 / 0.75
Does the DFI state the method of community disclosure?0 / 0.75
Does the DFI state what documentation was disclosed?0 / 0.75
Does the DFI identify the language of disclosure to project-affected people?0 / 0.75
Does the DFI state if the presence of a project grievance mechanism was disclosed and the method it was disclosed?0 / 0.75
Does the DFI state if the presence of an independent accountability mechanism was disclosed and the method it was disclosed?0 / 0.75
Does the DFI identify the main shareholders of the client company?0 / 1
Does the DFI disclose a beneficial ownership statement?0 / 1
Does the DFI disclose the presence of the IAM on the DFI project page?1 / 1

Financial Information

2.33 / 15
About component

This information provides details on the financial performance of DFIs and the structuring of investments. At the organisation level, this includes audited financial reports. At the project level, this includes currency of investment, mobilisation, and concessionality

Does the DFI disclose audited financial reports/statements?1 / 1
Does the DFI publish a methodology explaining its approach to calculating climate finance?1 / 1
Does the DFI disclose whether an investment is a repeat investment?0 / 1
Does the DFI disclose the currency that the investment is made in?0 / 1
Does the DFI disclose whether investment has co-financers or guarantors?0.33 / 0.33
If there are co-financers, does the DFI disclose the identity of the co-financers?0 / 0.33
And, does the DFI disclose the amount of financing provided by each co-financer?0 / 0.33
Does the DFI disclose how much of the DFI investment amount was concessional?0 / 1
Does the DFI disclose why concessional finance was necessary?0 / 1
Does the DFI disclose how much private finance was mobilised?0 / 3
Equity - Share of equity: does the DFI disclose what percentage of the client company was purchased through the investment?0 / 0.5
Debt - Loan tenor: does the DFI disclose what is the length of the loan?0 / 0.5
Does the DFI disclose whether an investment includes climate finance?0 / 0.8
If the investment includes climate finance: Does the DFI disclose whether it is mitigation and/or adaptation climate finance?0 / 0.8
Does the DFI disclose the amount of climate finance for the investment?0 / 0.8
Does the DFI disclose the amount of mitigation and/or adaptation finance for the investment?0 / 0.8
Does the DFI disclose a rationale for why climate finance has been counted?0 / 0.8

Financial Intermediary Sub-investments

1.25 / 10
About component

This information relates to the ways in which investments in FIs are used. At the organisation level, this includes FI sub-investment policy. At the project level, this includes private equity fund sub-investments and FI (bank) sub-investments.

Does the DFI have a policy for disclosing qualifying sub-investments?0 / 1.25
Is the DFI policy for disclosing qualifying sub-investments in line, or more comprehensive, than the DFI Transparency Tool?0 / 1.25
Does the DFI define use of funds for FIs (banks) at organisational level?0 / 1.25
Does the DFI disclose private equity fund sub investments?0 / 1.25
Does the DFI disclose private equity fund sub-investments satisfying the DFI Transparency Tool?0 / 1.25
Does the DFI disclose use of funds for FIs (banks) at project level?1.25 / 1.25
Does the DFI disclose FI (banks) qualifying sub-investments according to their policy?0 / 1.25
Does the DFI disclose FI (banks) sub-investments in line with the DFI Transparency Tool?0 / 1.25