African Development Bank Ranks First on Global Aid Transparency Index

The Bank’s Sovereign Portfolio now ranks first out of 50 global development institutions in Publish What You Fund’s 2022 Aid Transparency Index

The African Development Bank has been named the world's most transparent organisation by Publish What You Fund, a global campaign for aid and development transparency.

With a top score of 98.5, the Bank's Sovereign Portfolio now ranks first out of 50 global development institutions in Publish What You Fund's 2022 Aid Transparency Index, which was released on Wednesday, 13 July 2022.

African Development Bank Group President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said: “I am elated to learn of this outstanding recognition from Publish What You Fund. It is a testament to the relentless efforts of the more than 2,000 personnel across our organization who work tirelessly to accelerate Africa’s progress. Maintaining razor-sharp focus, they consistently deliver top quality under the highest levels of scrutiny. I am incredibly proud of them. I commend Publish What You Fund for their important mission, combining robust research and technical expertise with targeted advocacy and engagement to make aid and development efforts more transparent and effective.”

Senior Vice President Swazi Tshabalala said: “I am absolutely delighted with this score in an index that plays a key role in helping promote openness and greater transparency among international agencies. The Bank has worked hard over the years to improve the disclosure of its aid flows by providing consistent, high-quality, and easily accessible data. Our top ranking has significant human and financial resource implications, as this is the only way to conduct our development business.”

The African Development Bank received the highest score in the Aid Transparency Index's ten-year history, moving up from fourth place in 2020. The Index is the world's only independent measure of aid transparency among major development organisations. Since 2014, the bank has consistently been rated as'very good.'

It has consistently demonstrated its commitment to increased transparency, as well as its extraordinary progress in providing high-quality information and becoming more transparent over the last ten years.

The 'very good' rating for Publish What You Fund is the highest of the five categories used to assess organisations' transparency. The ranking is determined by a number of factors. Finance and budgets, basic information data, organisational planning, and performance are among them.

The African Development Bank's non-sovereign portfolio was assessed separately for the first time in the 2022 Index.

The Bank is the second most transparent development finance institution dealing with non-sovereign operations, after the World Bank. Its non-sovereign portfolio is ranked 12th out of 50 global development institutions.

The past year has been complicated and difficult for development transparency. More and better development finance is needed than ever before to help meet development needs and ambitious global goals such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Bank's High 5 operational priorities.

This is especially true when large sums of money are allocated to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Publish What You Fund Chief Executive Gary Foster said: “We congratulate the African Development Bank’s sovereign portfolio for achieving 1st place in the 2022 Aid Transparency Index. For many years now, the AfDB has engaged to understand the demands of the Index, and they have then re-engineered their approach to disclosure, accordingly publishing more comprehensive, higher quality data. This has been made possible because the efforts of their technical staff are matched by commitment to aid transparency from the highest levels of the organization.”

Transparency is more than a buzzword for the African Development Bank: it contributes to ongoing accountability as well as accurate access to relevant Bank information.

Through the MapAfrica platform, for example, stakeholders can learn how the Bank is assisting Africa in meeting its energy and infrastructure needs. In addition, the African Development Bank has created a Projects Data Portal to make data more easily accessible.