The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced this Monday (13) a five-year agreement with the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).
The deal will allow the bank to use seven FDIC’s standard contracts. These documents are known worldwide for establishing a balanced relationship between the parties involved and for efficiently managing venture risks.
In short, the agreement will allow a more efficient dialogue with multinational companies, investment funds and other donors.
“The Bank’s endorsement should also provide additional comfort to the financial, institutional and private equity investors operating in the global market to adopt the use of FIDIC standard procurement contracts as an effective tool to mitigate the risks associated with the investable infrastructure asset class.”
“There is no doubt that the use of FIDIC contracts is a step towards improving equity and equity as well as efficient and effective contract management, as emphasized in the Bank’s new Procurement Framework,” celebrates Frank Mvula, director of ADB trustee services and inspection.
+ Similar agreements were signed with the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Caribbean Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in recent months.
For Nelson Ogunshakin, the FIDIC chief executive, the signing of this agreement aligns the AfDB with the major global funding organizations.
“By adopting the FIDIC contracts on major projects, the AfDB is demonstrating that they endorse the fair and balanced approach that these documents offer to parties on major construction contracts and we believe that this will create more certainty in the market as banks, lenders, investors and clients adopt them”, affirms.
“It’s a key aim of ours to strengthen FIDIC’s relationships with the multilateral development banks and other international funding institutions as improved communication and cooperation will bring benefits to the whole industry”, said FIDIC President, Bill Howard.
Founded in 1964, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) (AfDB.org) is a multilateral development finance institution. It has a mission to fight poverty and improve living conditions on the continent through promoting the investment of public and private capital in projects and programmes that are likely to contribute to the economic and social development of the region. In November 2019, the bank’s capital was reported as $208bn.