The IDB Group and Agence française de Développement (AFD) Group have virtually held their fourth Deep Dive Meeting on May 20, 2020, stressing not only the importance of strengthening  the partnership momentum, but also thinking ahead towards future strategic collaborations and co-financing operations in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).  

Towards this end, IDB and AFD have exchanged on the modalities of the support to be brought to Latin American countries both in their immediate to rather short terms responses to COVID-19, and on the medium to long-term recovery plans. These could be developed further, leading to a potential joint-cooperation aligned with climate and SDGs objectives, key drivers of the IDB-AFD partnership.

Proof of this ongoing cooperation is the signing of one cofinancing agreement and the approval of two grant agreements between IDB and AFD: a Policy based loan to support the decarbonization plan of Costa Rica (AFD: $150 million and IDB: $230 million, approved by the Legislative Assembly on May 16, 2020, to tackle the constraints of the pandemic) and two AFD grants to IDB regional facilities on gender parity and ageing populations  in Latin America and the Caribbean, for $4,3 million.

Ana Maria Rodriguez, IDB Vice President of Sectors and Knowledge, stated that “While COVID-19 has brought many aspects of life to a standstill, at the IDB, we are working around the clock to find innovative ways to provide solutions and additional resources to our countries, acting together with our multilateral partners -such as the AFD Group. We cannot control the ongoing pandemic, but we can be responsible in the way we respond to it.  Cooperation, alignment and swift process must be guiding principles in our ongoing partnership.” 

Laurence Breton-Moyet, AFD’s Director of Strategy, Cooperation and Communication, further stressed “Increased coordination between regional and national development banks will be key to promote sustainable development pathways and transition plans in the post-COVID response and to effectively channel development finance towards deeply rooted sustainable recovery investment plans. Bringing all public development banks to the table to facilitate such exchanges is clearly one of the objective of the 1st Global Summit of Public Development Banks that will take place on November 12 in the margins of the Paris Peace Forum.”

IDB and AFD Groups have a strategic cooperation track record in the area of climate change (decarbonization pathways, urban development, energy, transportation), and sustainable development. The two institutions signed a co-financing agreement in November 2018 targeting $1 billion by 2021. The 2020 Deep Dive Meeting has allowed experts to dig into promising sectoral discussions on biodiversity, climate change, urban development, governance, gender equality, infrastructure, social sectors, migration and financial innovation, further enhanced by the participation of IDB Invest and Proparco, and finalizing with a discussion on the 2020-21 pipeline.