EU-Africa infrastructure trust fund.
Date: 2008-12-30
Institutions: European Investment Bank
Subjects: Africa, EU financial instrument, development aid, financial cooperation, regional development

Summary sheet

E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k

EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund

Access to transport and communication services, water and energy is at the heart of reducing poverty and achiev-
ing sustainable economic growth. Europe and Africa are working together to bridge Africa’s infrastructure deficit.
The EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund, an instrument of the EU-Africa Partnership on Infrastructure, supports this 
objective. The Fund promotes infrastructure schemes to foster wider African development. 

Eligible  
infrastructure sectors

➾  Energy

➾  Transport  
(rail, road,  
air and sea)

➾  Water

➾  Information  

technology/(tele)communi-
cations

Initiatives to enhance African infrastructure networks

The EU Strategy for Africa sets out priorities and actions to support Afri-
ca’s efforts to achieve the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals 
(MDGs). 

The  EU-Africa  Partnership  on  Infrastructure  is  a  cornerstone  of  the  EU 
Strategy for Africa. The partnership aims to increase European and Afri-
can  investment  in  infrastructure  and  related  services.  It  identifies  and 
addresses the missing links in the infrastructure chain, harmonises poli-
cies and develops cross-border and regional infrastructure.

E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k

List of eligible African countries

•  Angola

•  Benin

•  Botswana

•  Burkina Faso

•  Burundi

•  Cameroon

•  Central African Republic

•  Chad

•  Congo Brazzaville

•  Ghana

•  Togo

•  Guinea-Bissau

•  Guinea Republic

•  Ivory Coast

•  Liberia

•  Kenya

•  Somalia

•  Lesotho

•  Democratic Republic of Congo

•  Swaziland

•  Eritrea

•  Ethiopia

•  Djibouti

•  Gabon

•  Equatorial Guinea

•  São Tomé and Principe

•  Madagascar

•  Malawi

•  Mali

•  Mauritania

•  Mauritius

•  Comores

•  Seychelles

•  Mozambique

•  Namibia

•  Niger

•  Nigeria

•  Rwanda

•  Senegal

•  Cape Verde

•  Gambia

•  Sierra Leone

•  Sudan

•  Tanzania

•  Uganda

•  Zambia

•  Zimbabwe

The Fund provides grants alongside long- 
term loan finance made available by finan-
cial  institutions.  Projects  which  benefit 
from  this  innovative  fund  combine  the 
following characteristics:

➾  identified by the African Union and its 
New Economic Partnership for Africa’s 
Development (NEPAD) as priority trans-
African infrastructure projects;

 ➾  cross-border or national projects with 
a  demonstrable  regional  impact  on 
at least two eligible countries in sub-
Saharan Africa1;

 ➾  sustainable and development-oriented 
projects, assessed in the light of their 
financial and economic viability, their 
impact  on  the  environment,  and  on 
their contribution to sustainable eco-
nomic growth and poverty reduction;

➾  projects carried out by public, private 

or mixed-capital entities.

The  Fund  provides  four  types  of  grant 
support:

 ➾  interest  rate  subsidies  on  medium/

 ➾   the African Union and African nations;

long-term project loans;

 ➾  technical assistance, including feasibil-
ity studies and project-related capac-
ity building;

 ➾  one-off grants for social or environmen-

 ➾  the  European  Investment  Bank  and 
participating  European  development 
finance institutions;

 ➾  the African Development Bank;

tal components of the projects;

  ➾  other potential donors/ private inves-

tors involved in the projects.

 ➾  insurance  premiums  to  cover  coun-
try risks during the inception phase of 
the project.

The Fund fosters co-financing and tech-
nical collaboration between numerous 
stakeholders, in line with the principles of 
the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness 
and the European Consensus for Develop-
ment. The main stakeholders are:

The Fund shares the same objectives as 
the  Infrastructure  Consortium  for  Africa 
(ICA), a network of bilateral donors, mul-
tilateral agencies and African institutions 
which supports infrastructure initiatives in 
Africa, encouraging information-sharing, 
good practice and project development.

 ➾  the  European  Commission  and  Euro-

pean Member States;

1  Currently, South Africa is not an eligible country. How-
ever, it can indirectly benefit from the Fund if a cross-
border project includes a South African component.

2

S u m m a r y   s h e e t   •   E U - A f r i c a   I n f r a s t r u c t u r e   T r u s t   F u n d

Twelve European donors 
to date:

 European Commission

  Austria

Belgium

France

  Germany

  Greece

Italy

Luxembourg

  Netherlands

Portugal

Spain

  United Kingdom

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k

Schematic presentation of the project approval process

African Union

EU-Africa Infrastructure Partnership Steering Committee
- Strategic guidance to ensure coherence with other initiatives -

European Union

Project benefits from grant, plus 
lending and technical capacity of EIB and 
development financiers

Fund Manager

Call for funds

Lead financier

Secretariat

Trust Fund Executive Committee
Approves the grant

Project Financiers Group/Lead financier
- Project assessment/evaluation & eligibility check
- Submits the grant request

Project promoter
- Submits the project

Governance structure

EU-Africa Infrastructure Partnership Steering Committee: ensures strategic guidance and consistency with other 
African and multi-stakeholder initiatives.

The Trust Fund Executive Committee:
- Governing body
- Approves all grant operations
- Voting members: donors to the Fund
- Overall responsibility/monitoring of performance

The Secretariat, housed at the EIB, assists the Executive Committee.

The Manager (the EIB) is in charge of the financial management of the Fund (disbursements and internal control, 
treasury, accounting, etc.). 

Project Financiers Group2:
-  Composition: each donor nominates a development finance institution (a Member State bank, agency or public 

body with international development project expertise)

- Checks the eligibility of the project and subsequently includes it in the project pipeline
-  Elects the lead financier, which acts as coordinator/spokesman for a given project and is responsible for submit-

ting the project

- Requests the grant operation
- Transfers the advantageous conditions to the project promoter(s)

2  As of June 2008: African Development Bank, Austrian Development Bank, European Investment Bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Agence Française 
de Développement (AFD), Lux-Dévelopment S.A., Hellenic Ministry of Economy and Finance, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Compañía Española de Finan-
ciación del Desarrollo (COFIDES),   Sociedade para o Financiamento do Desenvolvimento Instituição Financeira de Crédito (SOFID).

S u m m a r y   s h e e t   •   E U - A f r i c a   I n f r a s t r u c t u r e   T r u s t   F u n d

3

Summary sheet  •  EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund

E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k   •   E u r o p e a n   I n v e s t m e n t   B a n k

Summary of main facts and figures on the Fund

Objective

Attract and leverage resources and technical 
expertise to support cross-border infrastruc-
ture investments in sub-Saharan Africa

Operational since

June 2007

Financial commitments 
(as of 1 June 2008) 

EUR 98 million

Donors 
(as of 1 June 2008)

- European Commission: EUR 60 million 
- 11 Member States: EUR 38 million

Manager

European Investment Bank

Geographical coverage

Intermediaries

Final beneficiaries

Projects  with  a  demonstrable  regional 
impact involving at least one sub-Saharan 
country. 47 Sub-Saharan African countries

European financing institutions with devel-
opment expertise

Project promoters (public, private or mixed-
capital entities) 

For further information, contact:

European Investment Bank
100, boulevard Konrad Adenauer
L-2950 Luxembourg
3 (+352) 43 79 – 1
5 (+352) 43 77 04
www.eib.org/acp  –  U info@eib.org

Head of the Secretariat 
Yves de Rosée
3 (+352) 43 79 - 82968
5 (+352) 43 79 - 64999
U y.derosee@eib.org

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