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African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have established a special relationship with the European Union through successive agreements. The latest one is the Cotonou Partnership Agreement signed in 2000.  

The European Investment Bank has been a development partner in most ACP countries for some 30-40 years. The EIB also supports investment in 20 Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT), mainly in the Caribbean and Pacific, which have constitutional links with certain EU Member States.

The Republic of South Africa became an associate member of the EU-ACP conventions in 1998, however, EIB financing in South Africa is provided under a separate mandate.

The EIB currently has five regional offices in the ACP region:

  • Dakar office serving Western Africa
  • Nairobi office serving East and Central Africa
  • Pretoria office serving Southern Africa
  • Fort de France office serving the Caribbean region
  • Sydney serving the Pacific region
EU-ACP Cooperation

The relationship between ACP and Europe started in 1963 with the first Yaoundé Convention. This agreement detailed EU-ACP relations for trade, market access, development and development-finance.

The EIB’s first development finance operations in the ACP were projects in Cameroon, Ivory Coast and in Senegal. The Bank’s involvement in the region has been constant since this time, actively participating in all other EU-ACP conventions as the EU’s “development bank”.

Current EIB-ACP cooperation is based on the Cotonou Agreement that mandates the EIB to provide reimbursable aid to projects, alongside grant aid from the European Commission in 79 ACP countries.

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