The Future of Development Banks in Africa

This chapter presents a framework for the future of development banks in Africa. The depth of concern is illustrated by how development banks in the region can build resilience for fragile economies and boost African countries’ capacity to deal with developments in a sustainable manner. The chapter also provides a comprehensive and systematic review of the contemporary issues in development banking in Africa, key features of development banks in Africa, as well as their contributions and major challenges. Given that development banks are key levers in the transformation of national economies, the chapter highlights some lessons from development banks’ experiences in Africa—which are increasingly reflected in the areas of sustainable development, project funding, climate funding, intra-African trade, export, small and medium enterprise (SME) financing. The chapter concludes that development banks in Africa cannot be seen in isolation. Instead, policy coordination that supports development initiatives as well as robust mechanisms that attract institutional investors, governments, national and multilateral development banks to engage in development finance is essential.