The African Development Bank Group and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have agreed to strengthen their long-standing partnership to support resilience, climate adaptation and humanitarian action across Africa.
The African Development Bank recently hosted a high-level IFRC delegation led by Under Secretary General Nena Stoiljkovic in Abidjan. The discussions focused on moving the partnership from a broad cooperation framework towards jointly designed programmes and large-scale implementation.
The meeting brought together senior officials working across climate change, agriculture, food security, natural resource management, regional integration, human capital and fragile states.
African countries continue to face interconnected challenges, including climate shocks, displacement, food and water insecurity, public health emergencies and persistent fragility. The two institutions stressed that addressing these issues requires integrated solutions combining development finance, humanitarian assistance, climate adaptation and community resilience.
The partnership began with a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2013. The African Development Bank contributes financing, policy expertise and relationships with governments and the private sector, while the IFRC provides a trusted community presence through national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies across all 54 African countries.
Senior Vice President of the African Development Bank Group Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade said the partnership should now focus on delivering concrete programmes at scale. She highlighted the opportunity to combine the Bank’s financing and convening power with the IFRC’s ability to reach vulnerable communities.
The institutions identified several areas for expanded cooperation, including climate early-warning systems, community preparedness, public health, food security and efforts to address the causes of fragility.
The Bank currently supports national meteorological services in 17 countries through investments in forecasting and climate-risk information. Combining this work with the IFRC’s community preparedness and emergency-response systems could help warnings reach people more quickly and support earlier action.
The partnership will also connect the Bank’s investments in infrastructure, human capital and public systems with the IFRC’s community-based workforce and its role as an implementing organisation for the Pandemic Fund.
Cooperation is expected to focus particularly on vulnerable areas, including the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. Flexible financing mechanisms such as the African Development Bank’s Transition Support Facility could support joint programmes in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
The mission concluded with the adoption of a refined Joint Action Plan for 2026–2028. The plan establishes targeted, practical and multisectoral priorities designed to expand cooperation beyond pilot projects and deliver greater impact for vulnerable communities across Africa.
