May 7, 2021
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the French Development Agency (AFD) Group gathered virtually for their fifth Deep Dive Meeting. The Deep Dive explored new opportunities for expanded collaboration and celebrated the partnerships’ achievements to date. Since signing a framework agreement in 2018, the two partners largely surpassed the outlined target of $1bn in co-financing.
Building on the $2.7bn in joint and parallel co-financing achieved together in 2020 alone, this year’s meeting sought to deepen IDB-AFD collaboration on strategic issues and to structure a co-financing pipeline for the 2021-2022 period. To this end, it facilitated meetings between the organizations’ respective leadership, country, and sector teams, as well as IDB Invest and Proparco, each partners’ entity for the private sector.
Today, the partners formalized the signing of a joint IDB-AFD Letter of Intent, which will enhance collaboration in the area of electromobility. They also discussed expanded partnership in areas including climate change, gender and diversity, and other key sectors, all geared toward accelerating the region’s post-pandemic recovery.
“At the IDB, we believe our partnership with the French Development Agency is a success story with great potential for growth,” remarked IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone. “The Letter of Intent signed today is enhancing our collaboration around electromobility, while we collaborate across sectors to drive a sustainable, resilient recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
“The successful partnership between IDB and AFD Group is indicative of the commitment of public development banks to join forces around the world in order to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs and the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Covid-19 recovery plans open up a new phase of our partnership which will further enhance our collaboration in support of a just transition towards sustainable economies and societies across Latin America and the Caribbean,” stressed AFD’s CEO, Rémy Rioux.
Building on the IDB and AFD Groups strong track record of collaboration, today, up to 20 percent of AFD Group investments in the region are done with the IDB Group. Due in part to its expanded partnership with the IDB, the AFD Group is now the biggest European bilateral financing institution in Latin American and the Caribbean.