The African Development Bank and the OPEC Fund for International Development have launched a strategic partnership aimed at enhancing environmental and social safeguards across Africa. The initiative was inaugurated through a continent-wide capacity-building workshop held from 3–5 June 2025 at the OPEC Fund Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The event convened over 50 development professionals from 10 African countries and representatives from global development institutions, marking a significant step toward strengthening sustainable development governance and aligning international safeguards with domestic frameworks.
Participants included officials from Morocco, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Gabon, Uganda, and Senegal. Experts from the African Development Bank, World Bank, Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, International Finance Corporation, UNESCO, the International Labour Organization, and development funds from Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia also attended. Consulting firms Alpage and Kew REACH contributed expertise to the sessions.
The workshop built upon Country System Assessments led by the African Development Bank, which evaluate how well national frameworks manage environmental and social risks. Training sessions involved interactive panels, real-world case studies, and comparative analyses of international safeguard policies versus national systems. Key topics included land acquisition and resettlement, biodiversity conservation, social inclusion, cultural heritage protection, and community safety measures.
In parallel discussions, the African Development Bank, OPEC Fund, and the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment explored deeper collaboration to implement the action plans derived from these assessments. The next phase of the initiative will focus on country-specific training programs that address local challenges, aiming to reinforce national safeguard systems as critical components for ensuring the long-term sustainability of development projects.
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