West African Development Bank (BOAD)

Summary: 

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 Faso, 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. Since January 2015, BOAD has set up a new department in charge of environment and climate finance to closely look at climate finance aspect in projects that involve environment. In addition to the environmental component, this new department aims to prepare and finance adaptation and climate change mitigation projects, as well as carbon finance.

Financing Instrument: Equity, Loans, Guarantees, Technical Assistance

Project scale:

Projects approved in 2019 ranged from approximately XOF800 million to XOF38,200 million. In 2023, the Board approved 11 new loans totaling XOF182.32 billion, bringing BOAD’s total commitments (all operations combined) to XOF7,835.02 billion, since commencement of its operations in 1976.

Recipient countries regions/country groups: West 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.
  • For private projects to benefit from the Bank’s financial support, the project management company should have a real legal existence based on a private management method, with a business type accounting system, an organization and functioning in line with the rules applicable in the area.

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.

The project appraisal for its possible financing requires additional documentation and information as below:

  • the last three years’ activity reports and audited financial statements, if this involves a modernization, expansion and rehabilitation project;
  • the auditor’s report in case of equity investment in respect of a capital increase;
  • the technical and financial references of the technical, financial or business partner, as applicable;
  • the valuation reports on existing property in case of contribution in kind or proposed buyout of existing companies;
  • the bank details;
  • the articles of incorporation and other basic texts;
  • the guarantees proposed.

Last updated: 30 August 2023

Publication Date
Thursday, 11 March 2021
Applicable location
Africa
Topic/Theme
Agroforestry
Forest conservation and management
Climate change
Rural development
Database
Financing opportunities