West African Development Bank

Organizational profile:

The West African Development Bank (BOAD) is the common development finance institution of the member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). It was established by an Agreement signed on 14 November 1973, and became operational in 1976. Member countries include Benin, Burkina, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. BOAD is an international public institution whose purpose, as provided under Article 2 of its Articles of Association, is to promote the balanced development of its member countries and foster economic integration within West Africa by financing priority development projects.

BOAD provides financial assistance to WAEMU member countries to support their development efforts. Such assistance targets various areas, including the organization of workshops, conferences or seminars, the training of government officials and the implementation of social projects. The Bank also grants interest rate subsidies for non-commercial public sector loans to member countries. Also, BOAD participates in various roundtable meetings with a view to financing national development programmes in the member countries. The Bank promotes climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in various sectors: agriculture, fisheries, handicraft, energy, natural resource rehabilitation and preservation, and agroforestry.

Financing Instrument: Equity, Debt, Guarantees, Technical assistance

Project scale: Projects in 2019 ranged from approximately XOF800 million to XOF38,200 million.

Recipient countries regions/country groups: Africa

Eligibility Criteria: The following groups are eligible:

- WAEMU member countries;

- Their communities and government institutions;

- Agencies, businesses and private individuals contributing to the economic development or integration of member countries;

- Any natural or legal person from WAEMU or foreign country desirous of investing in the WAEMU region in operations falling under the fields of intervention of BOAD.

The project should show satisfactory financial profitability and be compatible with the country’s development goals.

Application guidelines: For the Bank to consider a project, the dossier to be submitted must include the following:

- a formal request for funding (letter, telex, fax…) from the project proponent stating the amount and the desired form of intervention (loan, refinancing facility, equity investment…);

- a detailed project design study covering the following aspects: market, project organization and management, technical and financial and possibly economic aspects