{"id":32796,"date":"2026-04-23T15:11:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T13:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=32796"},"modified":"2026-04-23T15:11:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T13:11:05","slug":"afdb-cabei-sign-new-pact-to-boost-mdb-lending-capacity-through-balance-sheet-reforms","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/afdb-cabei-sign-new-pact-to-boost-mdb-lending-capacity-through-balance-sheet-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"AfDB, CABEI sign new pact to boost MDB lending capacity through balance\u2011sheet reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">The agreement, signed in Washington, D.C. on the sidelines of the 2026 IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings, signals a push to strengthen how both institutions deploy capital for development finance. The Letter of Intent sets out plans to develop new initiatives and instruments that support knowledge exchange on financial tools, development financing practices and institutional capacity building, with the stated aim of contributing to economic growth and social welfare across member countries.<\/div>\n<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\">AfDB and CABEI also indicated an intention to deepen cooperation through a Memorandum of Understanding expected in the near future. Areas under consideration include technical collaboration on risk management approaches and joint participation in capital markets activity.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\">The signing was carried out by Hassatou N\u2019Sele, Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of the African Development Bank Group, and Gisela S\u00e1nchez, Executive President of CABEI.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\">The Letter of Intent highlights potential next steps, including the possible structuring of an Exposure Exchange Agreement and participation as investors in bond issuances. Both institutions framed the initiative as a practical mechanism to expand lending headroom and improve capital efficiency, building on shared interests in strengthening development finance operations amid rising global demand for affordable long\u2011term funding.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\">The move comes as multilateral development banks face growing pressure to increase lending without compromising financial strength. Balance sheet optimisation has emerged as a key reform pathway, aimed at using existing capital more effectively while maintaining prudent risk standards.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\">AfDB and CABEI described the Letter of Intent as an opening milestone toward a longer-term strategic partnership designed to unlock additional development financing capacity through coordinated reforms and expanded financial cooperation.<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\">&#8211;AfDB\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":32797,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-32796","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) have signed a Letter of Intent to advance balance sheet optimisation, aligning with G20 recommendations on capital adequacy frameworks for multilateral development banks.\r\n","published_date":"","news_description":"","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32798,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32796\/revisions\/32798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=32796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}