By Bamidele Famoofo
The African Development Bank Group and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency have agreed a new strategic partnership in Abidjan on 12 June to expand cooperation in food systems, job creation, climate resilience, health systems, and private sector development across Africa.
Martin Fregene, Officer in Charge of the Vice Presidency for Agriculture, Human and Social Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Bank Group. Paulo de Souza Amado, Charge d’Affaires of Embassy of Brazil in Côte d’Ivoire, signed for the Brazilian Cooperation Agency, which manages planning, coordination, and implementation of Brazil’s international technical and development cooperation programmes.
The agreement will seek to leverage the African Development Bank Group’s financing, convening power, and regional reach and Brazil’s experience in tropical agriculture, renewable energy, public health systems, skills development, and enterprise growth. The two partners will coordinate to scale practical solutions to some of Africa’s most pressing development challenges.
“The Memorandum…lays the foundation for a long-term partnership. A partnership that goes beyond one-off initiatives to promote structural transformations, strengthen national capacities, expand triangular cooperation and mobilise resources as well as know-how on a large scale,” de Souza Amado said at a signing ceremony in Abidjan.
Representing Bank Group President Sidi Ould Tah at the ceremony, Fregene said, “Across Africa, we are working to improve food security, adapt to climate change, strengthen health systems, and create jobs for young people. I have seen firsthand how Brazil brings relevant expertise and experience in many of these same areas, including agricultural innovation, renewable energy, public health systems, and skills development. This agreement creates a structured way to connect these strengths.”
At the ceremony, the Brazilian delegation also included Nelci Caixeta, Coordinator-General for Africa, Asia and Oceania at the Brazilian Cooperation Agency; Andrea Von Rakowitsch Siqueira Tillmann, Project Analyst at the Agency; and Jean Martial Konnan Koffi, focal point for Côte d’Ivoire.
The Memorandum of Understanding establishes a framework for cooperation in five priority areas.
In the agriculture sector, the partnership will support climate-smart agriculture, irrigation, mechanisation, agro-processing, agricultural enterprise development, and applied research. In health, it will promote stronger health systems, workforce development, digital health solutions, and bio-manufacturing, including vaccine and pharmaceutical production.
The agreement is also expected to pave the way for expanded cooperation in finance and private sector development, with a focus on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and strengthening business links between Africa and Brazil.
Additional priorities include renewable energy, bioenergy, carbon markets, nature-based solutions, skills development, technical and vocational education, higher education modernisation, innovation ecosystems, and youth entrepreneurship.
The MOU builds on decades of cooperation between the African Development Bank Group and Brazil, a non-regional member since 1982. It also expands earlier collaboration through the South–South Cooperation Trust Fund and joint work with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, which has helped advance agricultural innovation and knowledge exchange across Africa.
The partnership advances President Ould Tah’s Four Cardinal Points, which focus the Bank Group on high-impact programs and finance mobilization, building strong and effective partnerships, strengthening resilience, and measurable improvements in people’s lives – with attention to transforming women and youth demographics into economic dividend. The areas of cooperation identified under the agreement directly support those objectives.
