The sixth Africa Resilience Forum hosted by the African Development Bank opened its doors on Tuesday in Abidjan with a call for international financial institutions (IFIs) to scale up peace finance in fragile contexts and to rally their efforts in preventing conflicts across the continent amid dwindling official development assistance.
The biennial conference takes place at a time when the continent is witnessing increased conflicts and fragile contexts arising from displacement and other causes.
“There is no peace without development and no development without peace,” African Development Bank Group President Dr Sidi Ould Tah said in opening remarks, read on his behalf by the Senior Vice President, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade.
Dr Ould Tah described the theme of year’s meeting – Prioritising Prevention: Financing Peace in a Changing Development Cooperation Landscape – as “fitting, necessitating integrated solutions that combine peace, security, development, and resilience frameworks.”
“We must make sure that our investments are fragility and conflict-sensitive, and that they intentionally contribute to strengthening peace and boosting prosperity,” he said.
Yero Baldeh, Director of the Transition States Coordination Office at the African Development Bank welcomed participants to the conference, noting that it was taking place at a pivotal moment for the continent.
“Across Africa the fragility landscape is evolving and driven by climate shocks, economic pressures, demographic shifts and geopolitical uncertainties, yet within this complexity lies a profound opportunity: to imagine financing peace which should be seen not as a reactive measure but a proactive investment in prevention,” Baldeh stressed.
African Development Bank responds as Africa sees upsurge in conflicts and fragile contexts
Africa has seen a surge in conflict events across the continent seeing over 30,000 events in 2024. Around 250 million Africans live in fragile and conflict-afflicted areas, while more than 44 million have been displaced and 1 in 5 face food insecurity according to the Transition States Coordination Office.
These countries face heavy debt burdens and falling overseas development assistance which is projected to fall by up to17% in 2025, at the time when demand for it is critical.
Akin-Olugbade said that the Bank Group through the African Development Fund’s Transition Support Facility pioneered a fundamental change when it introduced the prevention envelope to intentionally finance operations addressing fragility drivers before crisis escalate.
“We continue to demonstrate leadership in prevention financing, with total allocations to prevent interventions increasing by 35% between 2023 and 2025,” Akin-Olugbade said.
She said investments had yielded significant dividends with documented evidence of success stories in multiple contexts in Africa.
“Evidence shows that each dollar invested in evidence-based prevention programs saves up to $16 in the long term,” Akin-Olugbade said.
The senior vice president commended the 248 Bank staff members who are currently stationed in fragile countries as well as the institution for maintaining its operations in the face of challenges.
In a panel discussion which set the stage for the three-day conference, Akin-Olugbade was joined by Sierra Leone’s Planning and Economic Development Minister, Kenyeh Barlay, Interpeace Board Member Amina Mohamed and Elizabeth Spehar, United Nations'(UN) Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support.
The panelists discussed the role of governments, international and development finance institutions and development partners as agents of peace. They underscored the need to ramp up investments and partnerships to ensure that conflict situations were prevented in the first place or transformed.
Sharing examples of critical policy decisions to manage fragility and prevent conflict from Sierra Leone, Barlay noted that solutions were not a “one size fits all” and that peace efforts needed to be sustained.
“Sustaining peace is not a one-time effort. Fragility is not just a legacy of the past, but a risk of the present,” Barlay emphasised.
On her part, Mohamed spoke of the power of diplomacy backed by finance: “Truly at its heart, prevention is saving lives, protecting futures before they are shattered…Diplomacy creates entry points; finance sustains the outcome. Without the commitment of resources, peace efforts falter or fail,” she said.
Spehar outlined the role of the UN’s Peace Building Commission as an important instrument in conflict prevention in Africa.
“We have the political commitment and the call for international finance institutions to play a greater role…within the UN the Peace Building Commission. Political will and commitment are critical,” Spehar said.
The panelists concurred on one of the conference’s main objectives – to shift the perception that fragile contexts are too risky to invest in.
“Fragile contexts are not inherently unbankable,” Mohamed stressed.
The Africa Resilience Forum will run from 1-3 October 2025. It brings together key stakeholders from across the humanitarian-development-and peace nexus to explore strategies for scaling up prevention efforts and boosting peace-positive investments across Africa.
Click here to learn more about ARF 2025 and follow the proceedings online.
