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UK 'should have more influence' in African bank

13/05/2008

The British government is in danger of having its influence eroded away in Africa's major development bank, it has been claimed.

A House of Commons committee said the Department for International Development's (DfID) authority was being 'diminished' despite it becoming the largest single donor to the African Development Bank (ADB).

Today's report notes the discrepancy between the DfID's policy on lending to low-income countries and that of the ADB.

Currently the development bank directs a quarter of its income on middle-income countries, compared to DfID's commitment of 90 per cent on low-income countries.

"The bank's great strength is that it is an African-owned institution," said international development committee chairman Malcolm Bruce.

"However, given that DfID is the largest bilateral donor, we are anxious to avoid DfID's influence at board level being diminished, to mutual disadvantage, and we hope that the bank can address this."

The warning comes ahead of the bank's meeting in Mozambique this week, with the ADB facing calls to decentralise responsibilities to field officers in 25 African countries.

But Mr Bruce added that with "rigorous monitoring and evaluation", the bank could become a regional leader in poverty reduction, albeit with a doubling of funding from the UK government.

"We support the bank's current strategies of building infrastructure, improving governance, boosting economic growth and helping Africa respond to climate change," he explained.

"DfID needs to monitor very carefully how these crucial strategies are implemented to ensure they really bring benefits to the poorest people in Africa."