ADF report highlights life-changing impact across the continent
Millions gain access to water, power and jobs
The African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional finance arm of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), has released its Delivery and Results Report 2025, showcasing its achievements under the 16th replenishment cycle (2023–2025). The document outlines how, in 2024, the Fund delivered meaningful impact across its 37 beneficiary low-income countries in Africa.
Key achievements by the numbers
Africa Newsroom reports that, according to the AfDB:
• Approximately 2.9 million people gained access to safe drinking water services.
• Around 500 761 people were newly connected to electricity, of whom 251 766 were women.
• Health services were improved for about 1.2 million people through funded initiatives.
• In agriculture and food security, the fund supported 24 403 agribusinesses, including 8 380 led by women, and over 520 000 farmers received climate-resilient technologies.
• The ADF helped build or rehabilitate 614 km of roads, improving access for an estimated 3.5 million people.
• In the jobs space, the Fund created or supported 115 564 direct jobs and 449 224 indirect jobs across sectors.
• Basic ICT services reached around 1.3 million people.
These figures provide tangible evidence that the ADF’s resources are translating into real-world outcomes: cleaner water, lighting homes, stronger health systems, better roads, and expanded opportunities for farmers, women and youth.
Priorities and emerging focus areas
The report emphasises two core strategic pillars driving ADF operations:
- Sustainable, climate-resilient and quality infrastructure.
- Governance, capacity building and sustainable debt management.
In the context of climate urgency, the ADF emphasised that 99 % of new ADF-funded projects now include climate resilience measures. Through its “Climate Action Window”, the fund mobilised about US$442 million in climate-finance commitments in this cycle.
The report also highlights major initiatives such as Mission 300, a partnership with the World Bank and other agencies, aiming to provide electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030, backed by over US$55 billion in commitments.
Women and youth empowerment remain cross-cutting priorities. According to the report, all new ADF-supported operations are now classified with a gender marker, and 96 % of new projects include gender-equality components. The fund notes over 290 000 direct and indirect jobs were created for youth aged 15–35 in 2024.
The bigger picture
These results arrive against a backdrop of global uncertainty: rising debt, climate shocks, pandemic legacies and fragile economies. The report casts the ADF’s mandate as central to Africa’s structural transformation by plugging gaps in development finance and focusing on growth-enhancing, poverty-reducing investments.
By targeting infrastructure, connectivity, agriculture, climate resilience and human capital, the ADF is positioning itself as a crucial development partner for Africa’s most vulnerable nations. Its emphasis on delivering measurable results, not just funding, signals a shift toward accountability and impact-driven development.
What it means for Africa and donors
For African governments and citizens, the report offers hope: access to electricity, clean water, better roads and jobs. It also reinforces the notion that concessional finance can support inclusive growth, build resilience, and drive transformation.
According to the Centre for Global Development, or donors and development partners, the report underscores the importance of aligning funding with measurable outcomes. As one analyst group noted, strengthening result-tracking systems, aligning baselines and outcomes and simplifying indicators will be key to showing how every dollar or euro invested translates into change.
The report also candidly acknowledges persistent hurdles: logistical delays, fragile contexts, climate threats, and debt constraints. While the ADF achieved strong results, some analysts caution that linking specific results to specific interventions remains difficult — partly due to how baseline data and outcomes are reported.
Reuters reports that going forward, the ADF’s next replenishment (ADF-17) will focus on stronger results frameworks, more private capital mobilisation, deeper climate integration and more refined gender and youth metrics. The fund’s ambition to step up engagements with the private sector and tap capital markets underscores its strategy to go beyond traditional donor funding.
In a nutshell
The ADF’s Delivery and Results Report 2025 lays out a compelling story of impact: millions gaining water, electricity and health services; thousands of farmers supported; jobs created; roads built; and a million-plus people connected digitally. It shows that even in challenging times, development institutions can achieve meaningful change when backed by clear strategy, accountability and partnerships.
For Africa’s low-income countries, it demonstrates that the path to inclusive growth and resilience is within reach, but that scale, speed and sustainability will require not just funding, but smart strategy, partnerships, innovation and unwavering focus on results.
As Dr Sidi Ould Tah, president of the AfDB, remarked in the report launch: “Together, with ambition and solidarity, let us engage with Africa’s youth to forge a new chapter of growth, resilience and shared prosperity.”
Key achievements by the numbers
Africa Newsroom reports that, according to the AfDB:
• Approximately 2.9 million people gained access to safe drinking water services.
• Around 500 761 people were newly connected to electricity, of whom 251 766 were women.
• Health services were improved for about 1.2 million people through funded initiatives.
• In agriculture and food security, the fund supported 24 403 agribusinesses, including 8 380 led by women, and over 520 000 farmers received climate-resilient technologies.
• The ADF helped build or rehabilitate 614 km of roads, improving access for an estimated 3.5 million people.
• In the jobs space, the Fund created or supported 115 564 direct jobs and 449 224 indirect jobs across sectors.
• Basic ICT services reached around 1.3 million people.
These figures provide tangible evidence that the ADF’s resources are translating into real-world outcomes: cleaner water, lighting homes, stronger health systems, better roads, and expanded opportunities for farmers, women and youth.
Priorities and emerging focus areas
The report emphasises two core strategic pillars driving ADF operations:
- Sustainable, climate-resilient and quality infrastructure.
- Governance, capacity building and sustainable debt management.
In the context of climate urgency, the ADF emphasised that 99 % of new ADF-funded projects now include climate resilience measures. Through its “Climate Action Window”, the fund mobilised about US$442 million in climate-finance commitments in this cycle.
The report also highlights major initiatives such as Mission 300, a partnership with the World Bank and other agencies, aiming to provide electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030, backed by over US$55 billion in commitments.
Women and youth empowerment remain cross-cutting priorities. According to the report, all new ADF-supported operations are now classified with a gender marker, and 96 % of new projects include gender-equality components. The fund notes over 290 000 direct and indirect jobs were created for youth aged 15–35 in 2024.
The bigger picture
These results arrive against a backdrop of global uncertainty: rising debt, climate shocks, pandemic legacies and fragile economies. The report casts the ADF’s mandate as central to Africa’s structural transformation by plugging gaps in development finance and focusing on growth-enhancing, poverty-reducing investments.
By targeting infrastructure, connectivity, agriculture, climate resilience and human capital, the ADF is positioning itself as a crucial development partner for Africa’s most vulnerable nations. Its emphasis on delivering measurable results, not just funding, signals a shift toward accountability and impact-driven development.
What it means for Africa and donors
For African governments and citizens, the report offers hope: access to electricity, clean water, better roads and jobs. It also reinforces the notion that concessional finance can support inclusive growth, build resilience, and drive transformation.
According to the Centre for Global Development, or donors and development partners, the report underscores the importance of aligning funding with measurable outcomes. As one analyst group noted, strengthening result-tracking systems, aligning baselines and outcomes and simplifying indicators will be key to showing how every dollar or euro invested translates into change.
The report also candidly acknowledges persistent hurdles: logistical delays, fragile contexts, climate threats, and debt constraints. While the ADF achieved strong results, some analysts caution that linking specific results to specific interventions remains difficult — partly due to how baseline data and outcomes are reported.
Reuters reports that going forward, the ADF’s next replenishment (ADF-17) will focus on stronger results frameworks, more private capital mobilisation, deeper climate integration and more refined gender and youth metrics. The fund’s ambition to step up engagements with the private sector and tap capital markets underscores its strategy to go beyond traditional donor funding.
In a nutshell
The ADF’s Delivery and Results Report 2025 lays out a compelling story of impact: millions gaining water, electricity and health services; thousands of farmers supported; jobs created; roads built; and a million-plus people connected digitally. It shows that even in challenging times, development institutions can achieve meaningful change when backed by clear strategy, accountability and partnerships.
For Africa’s low-income countries, it demonstrates that the path to inclusive growth and resilience is within reach, but that scale, speed and sustainability will require not just funding, but smart strategy, partnerships, innovation and unwavering focus on results.
As Dr Sidi Ould Tah, president of the AfDB, remarked in the report launch: “Together, with ambition and solidarity, let us engage with Africa’s youth to forge a new chapter of growth, resilience and shared prosperity.”
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