The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) have entered into a partnership aimed at bolstering investment in fragile and conflict-affected communities across Africa. This collaboration seeks to connect community-led prevention initiatives with development financing, economic opportunities, and sustainable development. By doing so, the partnership aims to foster a more integrated approach to addressing the challenges faced by these communities.
The agreement was formalized through a Letter of Intent (LoI) signed on September 21, on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States. Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Senior Vice President of the African Development Bank Group, signed the agreement on behalf of the bank. Stefano Manservisi, Chair of the GCERF Governing Board, represented GCERF during the signing ceremony.
This partnership brings together the strengths of both organizations. GCERF’s community-level knowledge and local partnerships will be combined with the AfDB’s analytical capacity, financing expertise, and operational reach. The collaboration will focus on enhancing development outcomes in environments affected by fragility and conflict, where limited economic opportunities and social exclusion can undermine investment and development gains.
According to Stefano Manservisi, investments aimed at preventing violent extremism can also support sustainable development by strengthening links between local resilience, economic opportunities, and long-term stability. He emphasized that by leveraging GCERF’s community-level experience and the African Development Bank’s development expertise, they can build stronger connections between local resilience, economic opportunity, and long-term stability.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade highlighted that the partnership would enable the bank to contribute to de-risking investments, strengthening institutions, and aligning financing with national development priorities. GCERF, she noted, would provide community-level prevention and local engagement expertise. This synergy, she believes, will ensure that resilience is not only financed from the top down but also shaped and sustained from the ground up.
Under the agreement, the AfDB and GCERF will combine community-level insights with development expertise to inform policies and investments in fragile settings. The organizations will also explore joint initiatives, promote knowledge sharing, and identify investment opportunities capable of strengthening prevention, resilience, and national development outcomes. This collaborative approach is expected to support a people-centered strategy for addressing fragility.
The partnership between the AfDB and GCERF is set to advance the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus by linking local prevention programs with broader development investments. By adopting this integrated approach, the organizations aim to make a more significant impact in addressing the complex challenges faced by fragile and conflict-affected communities across Africa.
Key points
- The partnership aims to connect community-led prevention initiatives with development financing, economic opportunities, and sustainable development.
- The collaboration will focus on strengthening development outcomes in environments affected by fragility and conflict.
- The partnership will combine GCERF’s community-level knowledge with the AfDB’s analytical capacity, financing expertise, and operational reach.
