The Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI) is an umbrella organization for development finance institutions in Africa, created under the auspices of the African Development Bank in 1975.

The objectives of the Association are to stimulate co-operation for the promotion and financing of sustainable development in Africa and to encourage the process of economic integration in the African region.

AADFI has over 80-member institutions made up of National, Regional, and Multilateral development finance institutions in Africa, and from other continents engaged in development finance activities in Africa.

The AADFI is a founding member of the World Federation of Development Financing Institutions, which brings continental DFIs’ Associations :  Association of African Development Finance Institutions, Association of Development Financing Institutions in  Asia and the  Pacific, Association of National Development Finance Institutions in Member Countries of the Islamic Development Bank,  Latin American Association of Development Financing Institutions, and the European Long-Term Investors Association,  under one global platform.

The Association is also a member of the Global Sustainable Finance Network. The AADFI has an Observer Status at the World Bank.

The AADFI Headquarters is located in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. 

AADFI
Members location in Africa

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History

The very first meeting of Directors of African National Development Banks was held in August 1969 in Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone. The purpose of the meeting, convened by the African Development Bank (ADB), was to ascertain their views on ways and means of strengthening cooperation between their institutions and the Bank.

Further meetings were held in Abidjan in May 1970 and were attended by representatives of the Development Banks of 23 African countries and delegates from regional institutions, such as the East African Development Bank and the Union Africaine et Malgache des Banques de Développement. Representatives of various international banks and other financing institutions also attended the meeting, which discussed a wide range of issues about the organization, management, and resource mobilization of the national development banks.

The outcome of a meeting held in Abidjan from 4 to 7 March 1975 was the creation of the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI) under the auspices of the African Development Bank. The establishment of the Association met the need for continent-wide coordination and economic solidarity. The inaugural assembly held in Abidjan set up a liaison committee to draw up and finalize the Association’s legal instruments. These were adopted by the Association’s First General Assembly, which was convened for that purpose in Dakar, Senegal, on 2 and 3 May.