African Development Bank and Economic Reparations

The African Development Bank is a financial organization that supports projects aimed at advancing economic and social development across Africa. The bank is also called Banque Africaine de Développement.^[1]

Background

The African Development Bank (AfDB) was established in 1964 with the mandate to promote sustainable economic development and reduce poverty in Africa through the mobilization and allocation of resources for investment in member countries.^[2] Headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the AfDB operates as a regional multilateral development finance institution, working primarily with African governments and private sector partners.

While the AfDB was not originally designed to address historical injustices, its evolving mission increasingly intersects with debates around economic reparations, particularly in the context of Africa’s colonial legacy, transatlantic slavery, and exploitative financial systems.^[3] Discussions on reparations have intensified across the continent, with African leaders, civil society groups, and regional institutions such as the African Union calling for reparative justice, including through financial mechanisms, debt cancellation, and development aid.

Although the AfDB itself has not explicitly defined reparations as a formal objective, its participation in debt relief programs, infrastructure funding, and development partnerships has been interpreted by some scholars and policymakers as contributing to a broader reparative agenda.^[4]

Reparations Discourse in Africa

In recent decades, there has been a resurgence of discourse around reparations for Africa, driven by calls to address the economic, cultural, and human toll of the transatlantic slave trade, colonial rule, and ongoing global economic inequalities. These calls have been led by African governments, pan-African institutions, scholars, and civil society movements.^[5]

In 2023, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo publicly called for reparations, arguing that no amount of money could truly compensate for centuries of enslavement and colonial exploitation, but that the demand for reparative justice remains valid and necessary.^[6] Similarly, the African Union (AU) has consistently supported international dialogue on reparations and has called for concrete mechanisms to address the economic legacies of colonialism and racial discrimination.^[7]

Beyond direct financial compensation, reparations in the African context have also been interpreted to include debt cancellation, development aid, capacity-building and institutional reform. Various think tanks and advocacy organizations have argued that international financial institutions should incorporate historical injustices into their economic frameworks and funding models.^[8]

While some critics view these demands as politically symbolic, others argue that reparations, including through economic development mechanisms, are essential for achieving long-term equity and redressing historical power imbalances.^[9]

AfDB’s Position and Involvement

Although the African Development Bank (AfDB) has not adopted a formal reparations mandate, its leadership has increasingly engaged with themes related to reparative justice and economic redress. In 2023, AfDB President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina publicly supported calls for greater financial accountability from former colonial powers. Speaking at the Global Parliamentary Summit on Reparations in Accra, Ghana, Adesina emphasized that reparations should include economic restitution, not merely apologies, and called for stronger partnerships to address the historical and structural inequalities facing African nations.^[10].

Adesina argued that debt restructuring, concessional financing, and increased investment in infrastructure and education could function as modern mechanisms of economic reparations.^[11] This position aligns with broader efforts by the Bank to promote inclusive growth and reduce dependency on extractive economic models.

The AfDB has also been involved in initiatives that indirectly support reparative development, such as the African Debt Action Plan, the Africa Infrastructure Development Fund and investments in renewable energy and agriculture aimed at building sovereign capacity.^[12]While these programs are not framed as reparations, they have been cited by some scholars and policy advocates as steps toward correcting historical imbalances in global economic relations.^[13]

Nonetheless, the Bank operates within the multilateral development finance system, which includes funding from both African and non-African shareholders, some of whom may hold differing views on reparations. This structural dynamic can complicate the extent to which the AfDB can formally support reparations as a policy objective.^[14]

Notable Projects and Reparative Framing

While the African Development Bank (AfDB) does not formally categorize its investments as reparations, many of its flagship initiatives align with broader objectives of economic redress, regional equity, and structural transformation. These projects have been interpreted by some development scholars as contributing to a form of "reparative development"—that is, targeted investment aimed at addressing long-term disadvantages rooted in colonial and post-colonial economic structures.^[15]

One example is the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional arm of the Bank, which provides low-interest loans and grants to the continent’s least developed countries. Since its inception in 1972, the ADF has focused on projects in health, education, water access, and rural infrastructure—sectors often underdeveloped due to colonial neglect.^[16]

The Desert to Power Initiative, another major program by the AfDB, aims to provide renewable energy to over 250 million people in the Sahel region. The initiative has been highlighted as a critical step toward correcting energy poverty, a condition many African nations face due in part to historically extractive colonial economies that prioritized export infrastructure over domestic access.^[17]

Additionally, the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA)—a joint initiative of the AfDB,African Union, and other stakeholders—seeks to transform cross-border infrastructure, including transport corridors, digital networks, and energy interconnections. These types of projects aim to reverse the effects of artificially imposed borders and fragmented economies that were legacies of colonial rule.^[18]

These efforts, while not labeled as reparations, have been framed by some analysts as indirectly fulfilling reparative goals by enabling self-reliance, closing development gaps, and addressing systemic inequalities within Africa’s economic landscape.^[19]

Criticisms and Debates

While some scholars and policymakers see the African Development Bank (AfDB) as a potential instrument for advancing economic justice in Africa, others have raised concerns about its structural limitations and its position within the global development finance architecture. Critics argue that despite occasional rhetoric supporting reparations or redress, the AfDB remains constrained by a shareholder structure that includes non-African donor countries with divergent political and historical positions on reparations.^[20]

Furthermore, some analysts contend that while the AfDB invests in poverty alleviation and infrastructure, operations often mirror the priorities of international financial institutions such as the World Bank or IMF. This has led to criticism that the Bank may unintentionally perpetuate neoliberal development models that favor macroeconomic stability over structural transformation or historical redress.^[21]

There is also skepticism about whether the Bank’s development-oriented projects truly reach marginalized communities most affected by historical injustices. Critics highlight the need for more grassroots-led initiatives and participatory planning to ensure that reparative efforts are inclusive and locally relevant.^[22]

Nonetheless, proponents argue that multilateral development banks like the AfDB remain essential platforms for negotiating African interests on the global stage. They also emphasize the Bank’s increasing responsiveness to calls for equity-based financing, sustainable development, and long-term sovereignty^[23]