BACKGROUND
The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) is the development finance institution of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) comprising fifteen (15) Member States namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
EBID emerged as a banking group (the EBID Group) after the transformation of the erstwhile Fund for Cooperation, Compensation and Development of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Fund) in 1999.
[The ECOWAS Fund was established in 1975 at the same time as the erstwhile Executive Secretariat of the Economic Community of West African States (the present ECOWAS Commission) and commenced operations in 1979].
ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) started operations in 1999 as a holding company with two specialized subsidiaries:
- ECOWAS Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for financing the public sector; and
- ECOWAS Regional Investment Bank (ERIB) for financing the private sector.
In 2006, the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government agreed to reorganise the EBID Group into one unified entity with two windows: one for promoting the private sector and the other, for developing the public sector in order to extend the services of the Bank to a wider range of stakeholders involved in sustainable economic development activities and programmes at national and regional levels.
The Bank has been operating under the new structure since January 2007. The headquarters of the Bank is in Lomé, Togolese Republic.
VISION
The vision of the Bank is to become the leading regional development and investment Bank in West Africa, spearheading wealth creation, economic growth and industrialisation for the well-being of the people in the region.
MISSION AND OBJECTIVES
EBID promotes an integrated, inclusive, sustainable and resilient subregion through the financing of national and regional development projects and programmes.
By virtue of its Articles of Association the Bank aims to:
- Contribute to attaining the objectives of the Community by supporting infrastructure projects relating to regional integration or any other development projects in the public and private sectors; and
- Assist in the development of the Community by funding special programmes.
CORE VALUES
The core values of EBID are: Integrity, Professionalism and Excellence.
CORPORATE OBJECT
The corporate object of EBID is to
- Grant loans and guarantees for financing investment projects and programmes for the economic and social development of Member States;
- Mobilise resources within and outside the Community for the financing of its investment projects and programmes;
- Provide the technical assistance necessary within the community for the study, preparation, financing and execution of development projects and programmes;
- Receive and manage the portion of the Community Levy resources meant for financing of Community development projects;
- Manage any Community special funds relevant to its corporate object; and
- Carry out any commercial, industrial or agricultural activity, in as much as such activity is secondary to its object.
Within the scope of its corporate object, the Bank cooperates with national and sub-regional development organisations operating within the Community. In the same vein, it cooperates with other international organisations with similar aims and other institutions involved in the development of the Community.