On 1 January 2021, trading began under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)— one of the world’s largest free trade areas by population, with 1.2-billion people in 54 countries and a combined GDP of USD 3.4-trillion.

The AfCFTA will be implemented against a backdrop of climate shocks, debt vulnerabilities, and two global crises: the lingering Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In this environment, free trade and regional integration could provide a much-needed stimulus.

The resources required for Africa’s low-income countries to recover, rebuild, and integrate are staggering. The situation underscores the critical role of the African Development Fund (ADF)’s regional operations envelope. This envelope is Africa’s premier concessional vehicle for financing regional integration in Africa’s low-income countries.

Entitled Crossing Borders, Connecting Communities, Changing Lives, this report documents the impacts of the regional operations envelope over the last decade, since the ADF’s 13th replenishment. In the report, truck drivers, stall sellers, and factory workers explain how our projects—the Senegambia and Kazungula bridges, the Nacala and Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa Road corridors, communications and power projects across Central and West Africa—are making a real difference in their lives.

Report by AfDB