The Republic of Benin has secured €500 million in international bank financing, supported by the African Development Fund, to facilitate priority investments in several sectors including education, health, water access, infrastructure, renewable energy, and agriculture.

The development was sealed on September 18 and followed the 17th replenishment of the ADF-17, agreed in December 2025 as the largest in the fund’s history.

The transaction also demonstrated the pan-African institution’s capacity to support countries across Africa in developing innovative, highly leveraged financing solutions that deliver tangible benefits for communities, according to a statement on Tuesday by the African Development Bank.

The agreement also builds on its first financing concluded in 2023 with support from the AfDB Group.

The 12-year financing is backed by a partial credit guarantee issued by the ADF and second-loss insurance provided by the insurance subsidiary of the Islamic Development Bank Group.

Robert Masumbuko, AfDB’s country manager in Benin, said, “This transaction is fully aligned with the Bank’s new strategic vision for supporting our clients, particularly Cardinal Point 1, which seeks to mobilise capital-market resources at scale, as well as with the New African Financial Architecture for the continent’s development. This second operation demonstrates the potential of guarantees to mobilise private capital more effectively.

Ahmed Attout, the director of the Financial Sector Development Department at AfDB, said, “By combining the African Development Fund guarantee with complementary risk-sharing mechanisms, it enables Benin to secure substantial long-term financing on competitive terms.”