Africa’s Financial Partnership with the World Bank’s IBRD: A Data-Driven Exploration
Welcome to our comprehensive database examining Africa’s engagement with the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The IBRD provides loans, guarantees, risk management products, and advisory services to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries. However, these loans are often at non-concessional, market rates.
In 2024, a total of 20 African countries could access the IBRD, with 14 eligible for IBRD-only loans and an additional 6 eligible for both IBRD and IDA financing.
Our platform offers in-depth analyses and data to foster informed discussions on optimizing this partnership to better align with Africa’s development priorities.
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African Countries with IBRD-only Access
The graph below shows African countries that have access to IBRD resources. Eligibility for IBRD resources targets countries with a per capital GDP higher than USD 1,350 and with good creditworthiness.
DR’s Key Takeaways:
- Since 1950, a total of 37 African countries has been able to access IBRD resources, yet this has shifted over time.
Africa Countries Which Can Currently Access IBRD-only, IDA-only, Blend Countries
This is map shows the various levels of access that African countries have to World Bank resources which varies with their per capita GDP, and creditworthiness.
DR’s Key Takeaways:
- In 2024, a total of 20 African countries could access the IBRD, with 14 eligible for IBRD-only loans and an additional 6 eligible for both IBRD and IDA financing.
- Differential access to IBRD resources limits the amount of development finance that African countries can access from the World Bank.
IBRD Distributions by Region 1950 – 2024
The graph below shows the distribution of IBRD resources amongst the different regions of the world between 1950-2024 both in terms of volume and proportion.
DR’s Key Takeaways:
- Africa accounts for just 7% of total IBRD disbursements since 1950, comparatively, Latin America and the Caribbean countries have accounted for 33.1%.
- In addition, African countries receive significantly smaller disbursement from the IBRD relative to countries in other regions, except for the Middle East. For instance, the average African country has received a total of USD 2 billion from the IBRD, compared to USD 7 billion for Latin America, US$9.2 billion for East Asia, US$3.3 billion for Europe/Central Asia and US$16.4 billion for South Asia.
- The top five African IBRD borrowers, while accounting for 75% of total IBRD lending to Africa, account for just 8.5% of overall IBRD lending.
Top African IBRD Recipients (Count & Amount)
The graph below shows the top African recipients of IBRD resources between 1950-2024, with Morocco and Egypt leading the way.
DR’s Key Takeaways:
- The amount of finance and number of times African countries have accessed IBRD resources varies amongst African countries and regions. For example, most of the IBRD lending to Africa has gone to North African countries even as other countries of comparative economic size in other regions of the continent.
- In terms of volume, 12 African countries have borrowed over US$1 billion from the IBRD. However, only four countries have borrowed from IBRD over 100 times – Morocco being the highest at 306, followed by Tunisia (235), Egypt (117) and Algeria (116).
- The top five African recipients of IBRD financing in terms of total amount are Morocco (US$19.9bn), Egypt (US$18.7bn), Tunisia (US$10.3bn), Nigeria (US$5.8bn) and Algeria (US$4.3bn).
Total and Count of IBRD Access by African Countries
The maps below show the total amount and the different number of times that each African country has accessed resources from the IBRD.
Africa’s IBRD Access Count
The map below shows the different number of times that each African country has accessed resources from the IBRD as of 2024.
Previous DR work
- Do African countries have enough access to IBRD resources? https://developmentreimagined.com/infographic-how-frequently-have-african-countries-accessed-the-international-bank-for-reconstruction-and-development-ibrd-compared-to-the-rest-of-the-world/
- Three proposals for GFA reform: https://developmentreimagined.com/press-release-empowering-africa-three-proposals-for-equitable-global-financial-reforms/
