African Development Fund Approves $3.48 Million Grant to Boost Industrial and Trade Policy in Five African Countries

The African Development Fund, the concessional arm of the African Development Bank Group, has approved a $3.48 million grant to finance impact assessments on the Africa Union's Accelerated Industrial Development for Africa (AIDA) framework and to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in the transition economies of Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Madagascar and Togo.

The grant, approved by the Fund's Board of Directors on July 13, will help strengthen the design of evidence-based, inclusive, and climate-sensitive industrial and trade policies in the five countries. It will address persistent gaps in institutional capacity, data quality, and policy coordination which continue to hinder industrialization efforts and the effective implementation of trade policies across the beneficiary countries.