AFD - Universal Registration Document 2020

PRESENTATION OF AFD Activities of the Agence Française de Développement Group in 2020

objectives such as the protection of nature or the reduction of inequalities, and has thus maintained its activity. AFD’s activity in the Orients region , covering all of Asia, plus the countries of the Western Balkans, the Near and Middle East, as well as Turkey, decreased slightly in 2020 to €2.42bn compared to €2.58bn (-6%). It remains mainly in the form of loans. Grants represented 6% of commitment approvals in 2020 compared with 7% in 2019. AFD was able to provide emergency responses to the health crisis in this region by reorienting around twenty projects towards a “Covid response”. Nonetheless, the year was marked by a significant decline in non-sovereign production due to operational difficulties (the inability to travel to China in particular), and a significant deterioration in the macroeconomic context (Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Jordan in particular). The presentation of certain financing projects has been postponed until the 2021 financial year due to material difficulties in carrying out the review cycles in the context of the health crisis and the revision of the counterparties’ investment plans. The economic impact of the pandemic has reduced the budgetary margins of AFD’s countries of operation in the region and called into question the investment priorities of some of them, such as Sri Lanka, for example. AFD’s activity in the region mainly took the form of sovereign loans (75% of commitments). Twelve operations in five countries - including Uzbekistan €355M, Indonesia €300M, India €250M, Bangladesh €200M and Georgia €190M - accounted for nearly 45% of total sovereign commitments. The year in 2020 was marked by a decline in non-sovereign activity compared to the previous year. Commitment approvals in foreign states in the Three Oceans zone reached €0.70bn in 2020 compared to €0.58bn in 2019, up 20% compared to 2019. Under the effect of the Covid crisis, AFD mobilised actively and had an exceptional year for the neighbouring countries of the French overseas territories, in particular with budgetary loans in the Dominican Republic, Mauritius and, to a lesser extent, in Madagascar.

supports the reinforcement of the regional actors on programme themes, before financing a set of projects to the tune of approximately €150 Ǿ million by 2022. 2020 was also the year of the award of the Partnership with African Higher Education programme, a partnership programme among higher education institutions. Financed through a grant of €20 Ǿ million, it will strengthen the capacities of African players and the influence of French players. Open to the 18 African priority countries for French development aid, it aims to: i) offer students from the continent the possibility of finding quality training in their country or region; ii) support French higher education players in developing partnerships; iii) allow the mobility of French and African students and teachers. Thus, 46% of the Group’s activity focused on the African Union (Africa Department plus the activity of the Indian Ocean Regional Department in foreign countries) in 2020. AFD’s activity in the Latin America region remained stable at €1.69bn compared with €1.66bn in 2019. Approvals for loan commitments amounted to €1.67bn, comparable to the activity in 2019 (€1.62bn). At the same time, AFD continued its grant activity initiated for the first time in this geographic area. Approvals for grant commitments amounted to €24M compared to €36M in 2019. In a context in which i) the Covid-19 epidemic severely affected Latin America and is now calling into question the years of economic and social progress recorded since the 2000s, ii) the recession, of an unprecedented magnitude (-9% of GDP), impacted Latin America to a greater extent than the rest of the emerging world and poor countries (multiple and structural inequalities, return to poverty, persistence of violence and corruption, all of these changes undermining the democratic pact), AFD has drawn on the varied range of its instruments, with a focus on providing a direct financial response to the Covid-19 crisis but also as part of a more global post-Covid perspective combining ecological transition and the well-being of populations. AFD has thus deployed countercyclical instruments while ensuring that this financing is reconciled with long-term

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2020 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT