Description
African institutions are often maligned as fiscally irresponsible and even corrupt. Washington-based officials, for example, have accused the African Development Bank (AfDB) of lending recklessly. Yet, AfDB officials claim that they coordinate their lending activities with other international financial institutions. This study investigates just how much the AfDB coordinates its lending patterns with the Bretton Woods institutions (BWIs) and why. Analysing AfDB loan commitments from 1995 to 2015, I find that an African country can expect to receive more funding commitments from the AfDB when it is favourably assessed using joint International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank criteria. When a given country is under an IMF or a World Bank program, it is also associated with larger AfDB commitments. Drawing on historical, interview, and case evidence, I argue that the apparent pattern is driven by AfDB staff preparing loans that support countries with the Bretton Woods’ seal of approval. The evidence supports the view that AfDB lending priorities are in alignment with the premier Washington-led global financial institutions and views to the contrary do not seem to stem from actual data.
