In June 2014 and February 2015, two papers by V. V. Pavlov, Ph. D. in Economics, and V. V. Klishin "The African Development Bank: Methods and Mechanisms of Credit and Loan Activities and Investment Financing" (Moscow, IAfr RAS, 2014, 202 p.) and "The African Development Bank: Financial Instruments and Methods of Financing loans". Strategies for modernizing the economy of African countries" (Moscow, IAfr RAS, 2015, 246 p).

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is a regional interstate bank for lending to economic and social development programs in African countries. It is the first international financial institution of the independent States of Africa, established in 1963 to promote the industrialization of this group of countries and reduce their dependence on the global commodity market. Over the years of independence, the forms and methods of the bank's work with recipient countries have changed, the structure of the AfDB itself has improved, there have been changes in the sectoral structure of investments, and the scale of the bank's activities has increased: now (as of 2014) it cooperates with 78 countries of the world - African, European and Asian.

In 2000-2013, there were major changes in both the bank's credit and investment strategy, which, according to the authors, is primarily due to the difficulties faced by the AfDB since the mid-1990s, which were the result of corruption and conflicts of interest within the bank. In particular, it became known about the conflicting interests of shareholders and directors of AfDB, which could not but affect the effectiveness of its work: the bank's financial position deteriorated sharply, and even the question of terminating its further functioning arose. Under these circumstances, the AfDB has begun to restructure its operations. As part of the restructuring, a policy of strict centralization of credit operations was implemented, control over the bank's activities was strengthened, the staff of employees was reduced, and some of its branches were closed. As a result, the measures taken allowed the AfDB to regain its highest credit and investment rating.

The published books together represent a comprehensive study of new phenomena in the mechanisms of AfDB activities, the main priorities and directions of its long-term financial strategy in modernizing the economy of African countries in the context of financial globalization.

The book "African Development Bank: Methods and Mechanisms of lending and investment financing" consists of three chapters.

In Chapter 1, in particular, the place and role of the AfDB in the system of international financial organizations are shown, the main principles of the organizational structure, goals, priority directions of its credit and loan policy are considered, and the mechanism of both credit and investment operations of the bank is presented.

The authors do not limit themselves to a detailed review of the AfDB's activities, but pay special attention to the institutional structure of the AfDB Group (Chapter 2)- the largest international collective regional credit banking and investment institution in Africa by capital and assets, which includes the AfDB itself, the African Development Fund (AFD) and the Nigerian Trust Fund.

This section analyzes specific investment and loan programs of the AfDB in the least economically developed region of the world. The authors emphasize that in 2010 - 2012, market principles and motivations in the AfDB's lending strategy are being strengthened. A strict division of member countries with respect to their actual access to the bank's borrowed resources was introduced into three categories ("A"," B "and" C"), depending on the state of the economy and external debt.

Category "A"includes 39 least developed countries in Africa, which are effectively denied access to regular lending and financing from the AfDB and can only expect to receive concessional financing from the AFD. Group B countries (Nigeria and Zimbabwe) have access to both AfDB loans and concessional AFR financing. Group C comprises 13 of the most developed and solvent African countries (e.g. Algeria, Egypt, Gabon, South Africa) that have free access to AFDB financing and are not eligible for preferential AFDB resources.

The authors provide interesting statistical data describing the qualitative performance indicators of the AfDB. Thus, in 1967 - 2007, 988 loans and grants totaling almost 24 billion accounting units were granted to the AfDB's credit, loan and investment activities. More than 50% of the allocated funds were allocated to North African countries. Countries in West, South, Central and East Africa received 16%, 14%, 10% and 5% respectively. Infrastructure projects in the field of energy supply and transport accounted for 37% of investments. 20% of the total volume of loans was used to strengthen and modernize the national credit and banking sector, 12% - for multi-industry projects, 8% - for the development of industry and the mining sector of the economy. In 2008-2010, there was a decrease in AfDB participation in financing agricultural, infrastructure and multi-industry projects. The share of funds provided in the form of loans and credits to the public sector for the implementation of national plans and programs of economic development has also significantly decreased. At the same time, there was an increase in lending to enterprises and organizations in the private sector.

Of particular interest is the system for evaluating the effectiveness of credit, loan and investment activities of the AfDB, which is devoted to Chapter 3 of the monograph. Here, in particular, the authors refer to the practice of financing multilateral cross-border programs of regional and sub-regional significance, primarily projects of the NEPAD program, as well as 16 programs that use funds from such funds as the African Financial Partnership, the African Water Resources Fund, the Congo River Basin Forest Fund, etc. (pp. 134-142).

The data on tendering is interesting (Section 3.3). The authors consider in detail the unified method of purchasing goods and issuing contracts for work (international competitive tender), as well as the methods of limited international tender, national competitive tender, international procurement tender, national procurement tender, in-house production method, direct procurement method (p. 164 - 173).

It is concluded that in 2009 - 2012, the bank's member countries had equal access to AfDB tenders, and the largest contracts in terms of volume were awarded not to regional participating countries, but to companies from African countries, mainly small contracts and contracts. The most widely used method is the international competitive tender.

It is emphasized that the AfDB's lending and investment activities are linked to operations in the world's least developed region, which increases risks.

Special attention should be paid to the conclusions made by the authors based on the results of the study. In particular, it is said about the importance of introducing modern methods of trade, technical and credit-banking cooperation between Russia and African countries: "It is expedient to-

The need to diversify the forms of such cooperation is justified by many factors, including: the specifics of the modern production and technical potential of many Russian industrial enterprises, the country's growing need for a number of types of industrial metal raw materials, and the commodity structure of Russian exports. It is confirmed by the experience of industrially developed countries and China" (pp. 194-195).

The second of the presented books - "The African Development Bank: Financial Strategies for modernizing the African economy" - includes four chapters.

In Chapter 1, the authors review the formation and implementation of the AfDB's long-term financial strategy for 2013-2020 to modernize the African economy, and explore its main elements. The focus is on financing solid infrastructure sectors, financing and technical support for investment in the private sector, promoting state economic reforms, supporting social and humanitarian development, stimulating intraregional economic cooperation and integration, lending to agriculture, etc.

Chapter 2 is devoted to special purpose investment programs and project financing, their features and implementation practices. The authors managed to summarize and systematize data on the bank's basic programs for long-term financing of investment projects in borrowing countries. Among them are programs to protect the environment and counteract the negative effects of climate change in Africa, a tender action plan, the practice of collective co-financing of investment projects, new developments in the methodology and system for evaluating the effectiveness of funded investment projects.

In Chapter 3, the authors address the transformation of the sectoral structure of the African economy and assess the role of AfDB in this process. The following priorities of the AfDB's medium-term strategy are identified: support for intraregional economic and monetary integration of the region's countries; financing structural reforms aimed at economic diversification; financing major infrastructure projects in the field of water supply and water treatment; support for public administration reform; and financing the private sector.

The authors pay great attention to the impact of the "Arab Spring" on the region's economy, investment activity in general, and the AfDB in particular. In the context of political instability, the AfDB is expanding its financial partnership with the World Bank, the EU, and the French Development Agency. The paper shows the impact of the "Arab Spring" on the structure of public spending in North African countries, the growth of public debt, the reduction of foreign investment inflows, etc.

Of particular interest is Chapter 4, where the authors analyze the possibility of Russia joining the AfDB and its equity participation in the capital of the AfDB in the context of increasing the bank's role in the economic development of African countries. The authors study the current rules and requirements for new non-regional members to join the AfDB, and analyze the possible consequences of Russia's participation in the subscription capital of the AfDB. Thus, according to the authors, Russia's accession to the AfDB will allow it to make credit and investment decisions within the framework of the AfDB, participate in co-financing of multilateral cross-border and regional projects of this bank, export guaranteed Russian industrial goods, expand technical cooperation and industrial cooperation with developed countries in the region, and gain access to new sources of strategic mineral and metal raw materials in the borrowing countries (pp. 208-209). Russia's entry into the AfDB as a non-regional shareholder country may become one of the key areas of the bank's business intensification.

V. V. Pavlov and V. V. Klishin conducted a systematic analysis and balanced assessment of the current forms and mechanisms of credit, loan and investment activities of the AfDB, as well as their modifications, and developed recommendations for Russia's accession to the AfDB are of undoubted theoretical and practical interest. The AfDB, as the main and only regional development bank for all African countries, retains a special place in the system of collective development financial institutions in the countries of the African continent.

The results of the research conducted by the authors can be effectively used by institutions engaged in developing a long-term foreign economic and trade strategy of Russia in the educational process when preparing courses on "World Economy", "International Finance", "International Monetary and Credit Relations".

Permanent link to this publication: