ADFD Spent Over $58 Billion in 106 Countries for Development and Investments

The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has provided more than $58 billion in development financing and investments, benefiting 106 countries across different continents in 2033, the Fund’s Director General Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi said.

In the ADFD’s annual report for 2023, he said that they were happy to celebrate the Fund’s remarkable accomplishments, which have been made possible due to the unwavering support of the UAE’s leadership and its dedication to realising sustainable development objectives in developing nations.

The cumulative spending by ADFD surpassed $58.82 billion in 2023 and the spending was geared toward ramping up social development initiatives globally, and supporting economic growth here at home.

While $32.81 billion was spent on development financing for 106 countries, with the lion’s share — $17.97 billion provided in the form of concessionary loans and $14.84 billion as government grants. This includes backing Masdar’s $50.10 million solar energy station project in Azerbaijan and $10.89 million for Talc’s agricultural projects in Somalia. The fund also allocated $48.20 million for Terminals Holding Group’s rehabilitation of Kabul Airport in Afghanistan in 2023.

ADFD has provided $59.91 million in concessional loans to fund two projects – one each in Tanzania and Mauritania. The funding for the project in Tanzania is to build a 220 KV power line for a distance of 167 km that would link the Kagera administrative region with the national electricity grid. The power line will be between Benaco and Kyaka and includes a new substation in Benaco to reduce dependency on energy imports from Uganda and providing sustainable and safe electricity sources to communities, economic areas, and service facilities.

The second project is to build a $30 million water pipeline to the city of Kiffa in Mauritania, which will be sourced from a river in Senegal.

The total value of this potable water supply project, which is being financed by several Arabic and international financing institutions, is $320 million. The project aims to provide water to close to 92 cities and villages between the cities of Koraï and Kiffa.

The ADFD also provided another $73.71 million in the form of development grants for infrastructure projects in Asia and Africa, and other regions.

Furthermore, ADFD’s cumulative investments amounted to $3.43 billion in seven investment tools and 16 companies in various sectors across 26 countries. Some $21.24 billion was deposited with central banks in developing nations, and $1.44 billion was allocated to bolster investment activities in beneficiary countries.

Tourism Sector Top

Tourism sector received 24% of the funding followed by industrials (23%) and investment holding (22%0 respectively. Among the countries, Morocco has received the biggest amount of investments, accounting for 22% of the fund’s total investments, followed closely by Uzbekistan (20%) and Egypt (12%) respectively.

Besides global funding, ADFD also helped domestic growth by investing $870 million between 2020 and 2023 to support national exports via the Abu Dhabi Exports Office. The funds were aimed at facilitating the global expansion of local companies and boost the national economy’s business competitiveness.