Lomé, May 11, 2022. The international rating agency Fitch has confirmed the BBB rating of the Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD) with a stable outlook. This rating is mainly due to the extraordinary support it receives from its main shareholders, the Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO, 47% of capital) and Côte d’Ivoire (BB-/Stable, 6% of capital).
BOAD’s intrinsic credit rating remains unchanged at BB+, reflecting the Bank’s solid fundamentals. Among the factors behind this rating, Fitch underlines the increased credit risk faced by the Bank due in particular to recent events in Mali, but also to other regional and global factors that could affect the credit quality of BOAD’s borrowers. Fitch’s decision confirms BOAD’s financial strength and resilience, despite the crises in Mali and Burkina Faso and the rise in commodity prices.
The institution is delighted with the stability of its rating as it plans to issue a new hybrid instrument in 2022, which will considerably strengthen its capital base. Just a few months shy of its 50th anniversary, the WADB continues to preserve and strengthen its fundamentals and the status it enjoys as one of Africa’s most reliable development finance institutions.
About West African Development Bank
The Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD) is the joint development finance institution of the countries of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU). According to Article 2 of its Articles of Association, the BOAD’s purpose is to “promote the balanced development of member states and achieve economic integration in West Africa” by financing priority development projects. It is accredited with the three climate finance mechanisms (GEF, AF, GCF). Since 2009, BOAD has been an observer at the UNFCCC and has played an active role in discussions concerning the construction of an international architecture for climate finance. Since January 2013, it has been home to the first Regional Collaboration Center (CRC) on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), whose aim is to provide direct support to governments, NGOs and the private sector in identifying and developing CDM projects. It is committed to carbon neutrality by 2023 and is an active member of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC), which brings together 24 national, regional and bilateral development banks.
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Communication and Public Relations Department
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Email : boadsiege@boad.org