AFD // 2021 Universal Registration Document
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PRESENTATION OF AFD
Activities of the Agence Française de Développement Group in 2021
region. Operations in Africa and Latin America remained significant. In 2021, the AFD Group was active in supporting major international initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, but also acted in a more localised manner: (i) ɸ in West Africa, through active participation in the Alliance Sahel coordination group of energy donors, and by supporting the Desert to Power initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB); (ii) ɸ in Asia, where AFD supported the South East Asia Energy Transitions Partnership, through a platform bringing together different types of donors and foundations to accelerate the energy transition in the region. Notably, this platform was used as part of the preparation for COP26, to finance certain studies on decarbonisation trajectories. AFD also rolled out, operationally, the Digital Energy Facility (to improve the performance of electricity operators through digital technologies), with the completion of a first challenge and the allocation of financing to electricity operators and start-ups, notably in Africa. Lastly, the partnership with the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) was pursued, with collaboration on energy efficiency and on the transition trajectories of the overseas territories, and interesting capitalisation work on mini-grid projects. P In the urban development sector, AFD granted, in Africa, (i) ɸ financing to improve the quality of life of, and access to basic urban services for, the populations of five disadvantaged and under-equipped neighbourhoods of Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), (ii) ɸ financing to support the sustainable local economic development of the city of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso), through the implementation of a fiscal and regional policy, from the point of view of commercial facilities, (iii) ɸ a new non sovereign loan to Holding Al Omrane, a public development and housing operator in Morocco, to finance a multi-year programme for the construction of affordable and energy efficient housing, to improve substandard housing and to develop two new urban centres. In Latin America, AFD granted a public policy budgetary loan to support Costa Rica’s sustainable and low-carbon trajectory, focused on three thematic sectors (sustainable construction, solid waste management, fair transition) and one cross-functional sector (promotion of gender equality). In the Orients zone, AFD granted financing for several projects and programmes, including: (i) ɸ a public policy budgetary loan to support the roadmap for natural disaster risk management and local climate change adaptation in the Philippines; (ii) ɸ phase ɸ 2 of theCITIIS programme in India, which supports the improvement of urban governance, through resilient interventions at all levels of government and through technical and financial support for around fifteen smart city projects; (iii) ɸ a public policy budgetary loan to support the adoption and implementation of the climate change law in Serbia, as well as its implementation in terms of sustainable and resilient urbanism.
In the Three Oceans region, financing for French overseas local authorities concerned in particular (i) ɸ a number of loans for local authorities to finance their investment programmes, including in the solid waste management sector; (ii) ɸ technical assistance and project management assistance to support local authorities in their investment projects; (iii) ɸ emergency financing to respond to the Covid-19 crisis in French Polynesia. In the foreign States of the Three Oceans zone, AFD financed a multi-country programme to combat the pollution caused by plastic waste and support the structuring of a collection and treatment channel for said waste in the Eastern Caribbean States. In 2021, financing was also provided for the preparation of 17 ɸ urban projects and FAPS and FEXTE projects to support local authorities. Moreover, in 2021, the roll out of the Sustainable Cities sector platform was reinforced. The platform is a cross functional and operational community bringing together all Group employees (AFD, Proparco and Expertise France) working in the sustainable cities sector. It aims to develop and strengthen the AFD Group’s expertise in the sector and to create links at all levels, in Paris and in the network. It is an essential tool in terms of sharing knowledge and know how, but also in terms of operational activities, notably for agencies (access to various resources to structure prospecting activities and to forecast activities over the medium term), with a view to improving the quality and monitoring of sustainable city projects. 7. Approvals granted in the health sector were halved, from €1.03bn in 2020 to €0.56bn in 2021, i.e. a 46% decrease. Representing 12% of approvals last year, this sector returned to a level consistent with previous years to account for 7% of total approvals in 2021. The exponential trajectory in 2020 was due to the emergency response to the Covid-19 crisis; AFD’s health and social protection activity decreased in 2021 but remained at a high level. In 2021, AFD financed 64 ɸ projects (45 ɸ in 2019 and 123 ɸ in 2020) in the health and social protection sectors. Of these commitments, 91.4% were made in foreign States and 8.6% in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities. However, in addition to financing whose main objective is health and social protection, it is worth mentioning financing that includes a health or social protection component as part of more generalised cross-cutting support, as is the case, for example, in Polynesia, where a €300M AFD loan aims to finance the region’s recovery plan, notably the general social protection system. In line with the commitments made by the AFD Group, health and social protection activities in 2021 paid particular attention to climate and gender issues. Many health and social protection projects also have climate co-benefits (mainly adaptation to climate shocks). As part of the FGE organised by France in June ɸ 2021, AFD continued its commitment to combating gender inequalities and promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights. As part of FISONG, it launched a call for projects on Obstetric
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2021 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT
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