AFD - Universal Registration Document 2020

A WORD FROM THE CEO

A word from the CEO

an exceptional crisis, the AFD Group’s consolidated net income remained positive at +€40 million, even though it was down, under the effect of a significant deterioration in the cost of risk and a decline in the fair value of the equity portfolio, which are the two main items affected by the crisis. In addition, the volume of bond issues for the 2020 financial year rose sharply, by 52%, to €9.9 billion with a diversified investor base. This year was also marked by the implementation of an emissions framework aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which replaces the Climate emissions framework. Investors renewed their confidence, allowing the Group to launch a record thematic SDG issue amounting to €2 billion. This higher volume of issues made it possible to respond to the sharp increase in payments over the year. To conclude, I would like to highlight the Ǿ adaptability of AFD’s teams who, driven by a spirit of solidarity, have helped the most vulnerable to cope with the crisis, notably in the African continent. The French State’s decision to significantly reinforce the Agency’s capital, as provided for in the 2021 Finance Law, is an important recognition of this commitment and of our sustainable development mission.

the Paris Club, in accordance with the mechanism that provides for a suspension of debt service in capital and interest for all amounts due and unpaid at 30 April 2020, as well as amounts due in 2020. This action, which is both a health and an economic measure, and reconciles short-term needs with long-term social and environmental requirements, is reflected in the “Joint Overseas Territories” programme. Estimated at over €1 billion, it made it possible to carry out a series of concrete actions around the health emergency, the economic emergency and a sustainable recovery. The level of authorised commitments in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities thus increased 38% compared to 2019 to reach more than €1.2 billion in 2020. This responsiveness is part of a Group approach that is now recognised and reinforced by Parliament, which honours us with its trust. This is reflected in the spirit of the Amending Finance Law of 30 July 2020, which established the possibility for AFD to use its subsidiary Proparco to provide services on a quasi-State-run basis. This is also the purpose of the integration of Expertise France within the AFD Group, planned on 1 July 2021 per the draft programming law on solidarity development and the fight against global inequalities, unanimously adopted by the National Assembly and being examined by the Senate.

With commitments that stabilised in 2020, at €12.1 billion, and disbursements which were up 35% compared to 2019 to reach a record level of €8.8 billion, the AFD Group confirmed its capacity to mobilise and its agility in the context of a crisis that underscored the essential role of the world’s 450 public development banks, which met for the first time at the Finance in Common Summit held in November 2020. AFD’s teams were first mobilised as part of a health programme through the “Covid-19 – Health in Common” initiative, launched on 2 April 2020 and endowed with €150 million in donations and €1 billion in loans. At the end of 2020, 63 projects in 33 countries were thus able to receive support, mostly in priority countries for French official development assistance. With regard to our economic response, it resulted in the expansion of our initiative to support the private sector, Choose Africa, with funds amounting to €3.5 billion. To play our countercyclical role, we mobilised an additional €1 billion for national and local business assistance plans while preparing recovery paths aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. In addition, 27 of AFD’s sovereign counterparties requested debt service suspension from

Rémy Rioux Directeur Général

Lastly, the resilience of our finance model was confirmed. In the context of

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Excluding guarantees

At the time of writing this foreword, on 2 April 2021.

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2020 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT

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