universal registration document

Contents

UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2024

Consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS accounting standards adopted by the European Union           151

6.1         Consolidated financial statements                            152

6.2        Notes to the consolidated financial statements           157

6.3         Statutory auditors’ report on the consolidated

             financial statements                                                203

6.4        Statutory Auditors’ special report on

             related‑party agreements                                         208

AFD’s annual parent company

financial statements                                                      213

7.1         Highlights of the financial year                                 217

7.2        Accounting principles and assessment methods          218

7.3         Notes to the financial statements

            at 31 December 2024                                               227

7.4         AFD’s financial results over the last five

            financial years                                                         238

7.5         Statutory auditors’ report on the financial

            statements                                                              239

Person responsible for the Registration Document

and the audit of the financial statements                  245

8.1        Name and position                                                   246

8.2         Certification of the person responsible                     246

8.3         Name, address and qualification

of the Statutory Auditors 246 8.4 Information policy          246

Additional information                                                  247

9.1         Management report cross‑reference table                248

9.2        Incorporation by reference                                       249

9.3      Cross‑reference table between Appendices 1 and 2 of delegated regulation 2019/980 and

              the Universal Registration Document                        249

9.4         Cross‑reference table of the CRR articles

             and the Pillar III report tables                                    252

9.5       Appendix 1 – AFD’s activities in foreign countries         256

9.6         Appendix 2 – AFD balance sheet using

              on French standards (simplified)                              257

9.7         Appendix 3 – AFD income statement using

             French standards (simplified)                                   258

9.8          Appendix 4 – Key ratios and indicators                     258

9.9      Appendix 5 – Results of operating activities for the last five financial years (parent company basis)        259

9.10       Appendix 6 – AFD approvals                                     259

9.11    Appendix 7 – Summary table of AFD and Proparco loans in foreign countries       260

9.12         Appendix 8 – Table of Proparco’s approvals              263

9.13        Appendix 9 – NFPS methodological note                  265

9.14       Appendix 10 – Statement of NFPS

            appendices                                                              269

Rémy Rioux                                                       Amid      the      geopolitical,        economic,

Chief Executive Offi cer of the AFD Group   environmental and fi nancial uncertainties of today’s world, we need to stay the course towards international solidarity, as defi ned in 2015 in the United Nations 2030 Agenda     and           the           Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Working towards prosperity that is more equitably shared and for a world that is safer, more united and better equipped to face the challenges of global warming and the collapse of biodiversity: this was the message reaffi rmed by the President of

budgetary credits allocated by the State last year, the AFD Group managed to increase its fi nancing sixfold, by issuing bonds on the fi nancial markets, to which can be added €12 billion in public and private, joint and parallel co-fi nancing. The Group’s business model generated consolidated net income of €344 million and a capital adequacy ratio of 15.26%.

This business model makes it possible to achieve signifi cant development impacts. Our business plan is built by targeting operations according to their impact intensity, and the Group ensures that these results are measured over

time. For example, twenty projects carried out in 2024 with a €300 million budget improved access to healthcare for 15 million people around the world. In accordance with France’s feminist diplomacy strategy, over 50% of the Group’s commitments have an impact on the promotion of gender equality. We are also investing in the preservation of global public goods, by meeting 85% of France’s climate fi nance target, i.e. €7.7 billion in 2024, but also by dedicating more than €1 billion to the protection of biodiversity. This commitment to serving the planet is being developed with our partners by taking into account fairness in the transition, as illustrated by the signature of a 100% climate and 100% social loan to South Africa for €400 million, the largest fi nancial transaction in AFD's history. Geographically, we remain alongside our overseas territories in New Caledonia and Mayotte, but we are also working with our European neighbours, in Ukraine, where we plan to invest €400 million from now until 2027. Africa remains the Group’s geographical priority, year on year, representing 40% of our business.

The mobilisation of all development fi nance players is essential in order to maximize impacts and accelerate transformations. The AFD Group plays a role as a mobilisation platform within the European and global fi nancial architecture, with all public development banks around the world. The fi fth summit of the Finance in Common movement (FiCS) was held in Cape Town last February, at the same time as the fi rst meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, chaired by South Africa, and conveyed its message of a multilateralism based on concrete solutions for shared prosperity. Marking the 10th anniversary of the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement, 2025 is a key year with the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, Spain, COP 30 in Belém, Brazil, and the United Nations Social Summit. The AFD Group is at the service of the entire Équipe France and Team Europe, favouring cooperation and international partnerships rather than adopting inward-looking approaches.

Overall, AFD’s effectiveness is recognised by the French population, who have a positive opinion on the effectiveness of France’s investments abroad. This was confi rmed by a study carried out in April 2024, by Harris Interactive, on the commitment of Europeans to international solidarity and sustainable development. According to this survey, over 70% of French people consider the AFD Group’s actions to be effective, both for the recipient country but also for France. Because the fi nancing granted by the AFD Group creates value and jobs in France. Over 50% of the contracts fi nanced have been won by French companies, which benefi t from around €3 billion in economic spin-offs every year. The international solidarity sector represents 40,000 jobs, making it possible to disseminate French expertise and savoir-faire throughout the world.

Th e AFD Group’s 2025-2030 strategy

Conceived over six years and guiding the Group’s actions The AFD Group’s mandate was redefi ned around a dual until 2030, the AFD Group’s new strategy, with Proparco agenda of combating poverty and inequality and preserand Expertise France, consolidates the results and achie- ving shared goods, promoting solidarity and sustainable

4 strategic commitments

  KEEPING THE GROUP’S PROMISE 

• The AFD-Proparco-EF offering, which is complete and attractive, and responds to the needs of our customers and partners, for greater impact

• Coordinated action, through Équipe France and Team Europe (#TeamEurope), and with all the development banks of the world (IDFC & FiCS) for greater mobilization, towards a European and a Souths community

• Improved responsibility, accountability, visibility

• Innovation, anticipation, foresight

• Group integration: strategic (Group POS, COM and CIP), organisational (Group DR) and single Group head offi ce in Austerlitz

  ON THE SIDE OF OTHERS 

A position of attention, of respect, of listening to the local needs, constraints, cultures, knowledge and talent of countries and our customers and partners, by strengthening our geographical intelligence according to three mandates:

1  •  Providing support for sustainable and inclusive economic and social development in the most vulnerable countries

2  •  Providing support for a just transition in middle-income and emerging countries

3 

And actions adapted to large geopolitical groups:

• Taking action for the new partnership between Africa, Europe and France

• Providing support for the countries of the European political community in their convergence processes

• T aking action at the Indo-Pacifi c level around common challenges

• Contributing to a solidarity investment pact between Latin America and Europe

1. The AFD Group’s 2018-2022 strategy:

  100% SDG 

The alignment with the SDGs aims to achieve a strong sustainability of development models, by committing to do no harm, maximize transformational impacts, and increase synergies among:

• Three strategic priorities (Planet; Social link; Citizens, Institu-tions, Democracies)

• Three solidarity and sustainable investment priorities, for enhanced impacts and a quality sectoral offering:

— Sustainable infrastructure

— Economy and fi nance SDGs

— Human development and social progress

According to four levels of action: projects, players, country trajectories, and international systems

  MOBILIZATION PLATFORM 

The Group will step up its action and mobilize the forces of change to achieve the SDGs, in France, Europe and internationally, through three priority and complementary channels:

• Financial mobilization, to increase and qualitatively redirect additional resources

• Citizen and partnership mobilization, because the commitment of the nation’s forces, whether civil society, young people, opinion leaders and citizens themselves, remains an under-used action lever among development institutions

• Mobilization of knowledge, technology and expertise

—  French (Expertise France, French public institutions, private sector)

—  local: AFD as a learner and as a broker of knowledge and innovations

100% of financing aligned with the Paris Agreement and growth in the Group’s climate finance / 100% social link: growing commitment to gender equality and social sectors / The Group’s inceasing involvement in terms of crises and fragilities, with the launch of the Minka Initiative, which addresses the most vulnerable populations in conflict situations, and the commitment of nearly €1bn in response to crises in the four regional basins of the Sahel, Lake Chad, CAR and the Middle East / The priority given to non-sovereign players (50% of the Group’s activity, and Proparco as the single entry point for direct private sector financing activities) / The partnership reflex and the deployment of a strong dynamic, with French (CSOs, the private sector, local authorities), European (Team Europe, Commission) and international players.

180 countries

11 overseas territories

+4,500

employees in Paris and in the network 300 international

technical experts and 1,500 Expertise

France experts and contributors

€13bn

in fi nancing approvals

+1,000

new projects

127

major French public and private partners

international co-fi nanciers90

7,000 CSOs

involved in Group projects

Methodology and glossary

Figures

Due to rounding, the tables’ column totals may differ slightly from the sum of the lines composing them. The abbreviation €K signifies thousands of euros, €M signifies millions of euros and €bn signifies billions of euros. Commitments are presented net of cancellations during the year. For loans and grants, data in foreign currencies have been converted into euros for payments at the end of the month of disbursement, using the exchange rate at the date when the commitment was approved and the closing price (31 December) for outstandings. For borrowings, the year’s issues were converted to the closing exchange rate.

Scope

Except for the tables in Sections 1.6.3 and 9.10 which present all of the activities carried out by AFD on its own behalf and on behalf of third parties, all other data included in this document covers the same scope as that used to prepare financial statements established according to international accounting standards – in other words, only activities on AFD’s own behalf.

Glossaire

                                                                                                   1.5      AFD Group                                                            19

                                                                                                   1.5.1     Scope of consolidation                                              19

                                                                                                   1.5.2      Information about subsidiaries                                  19

                                                                                                   1.5.3      Presentation of subsidiaries                                      21

                                                                                                   1.6        Activities of the Agence Française

                                                                                                                 de Développement Group in 2024                  23

                                                                                                   1.6.2      Information about offices and activities at

                                                                                                               31 December 2024                                                    25

                                                                                                   1.6.3     AFD Group activities                                                  26

                                                                                                   1.6.4      The AFD Group around the world                               32

                                                                                                   1.6.5       AFD Group activities by business sector                     35

                                                                                                   1.6.6      The Partnership Approach: Working with

                                                                                                               Other for Greater Impact                                           38

                                                                                                   1.6.7     Intellectual production                                              40

General information

1.1      General information

1.1.1        Legal status

Registered office

Agence Française de Développement

5, rue Roland‑Barthes

 75598 Paris Cedex 12  France  Tel.: 01 53 44 31 31

Legal form

Agence Française de Développement (hereinafter referred to as “AFD”) is an établissement public de l’État à caractère industriel et commercial (public industrial and commercial establishment with legal personality and financial autonomy [EPIC]). AFD is a financing company that exercises an ongoing public interest mission within the meaning of Article L.511‑104 of the CMF. Its bylaws are defined in Articles L.515‑13 and R.515‑5 to R.515‑25 of the French Monetary and Financial Code (CMF). AFD is managed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is appointed by Decree for a three‑year term (Article R.515‑16 of the CMF) and a Board of Directors in its areas of responsibility (Articles R.515‑17 to R.515‑19 of the CMF). The Strategic Steering Committee (SSC), an AFD body made up of State representatives on the Board of Directors and chaired by the Secretary of State to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, with responsibility for the French‑speaking world and international partnerships (Article R. 515‑7 of the CMF and Decree no. 2024‑992 of 7 November 2024), is notably responsible for strengthening the link between the political guidelines for Official Development Assistance (ODA) decided by the Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development (CICID) and their operational implementation by AFD. The SSC coordinates the State's preparation of the contractual targets and resources binding the Agency to the State, and monitors their implementation. It prepares, prior to their presentation to the Board of Directors, the guidelines set by the French State for the Agency pursuant to the decisions made by CICID (Article R.515‑7 of the CMF).

ACPR Supervision

AFD, as a financing company, comes under the direct supervision of the French Prudential Supervisory and Resolution Authority (ACPR). The issuer's governing law

AFD is subject to French law.

Date of creation and duration

AFD was created by Order No. 21 of 2 December 1941 establishing the Caisse Centrale de la France Libre, for an indefinite period.

Statutory purpose

In accordance with the provisions of Article L.515‑13 and R.515‑5 of the CMF, AFD exercises an ongoing public interest mission within the meaning of Article L.511‑104 of the CMF. It may carry out the banking tasks related to this mission. Pursuant to the provisions of Article R. 515‑6 of the CMF, AFD's mission is to carry out all types of financial transactions with a view to contributing to the implementation of the State's development aid policy abroad and to the development of the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities and New Caledonia. To this end, AFD finances environmentally friendly development operations and may conduct other activities and services linked to its role. In particular, AFD is responsible for directly or indirectly providing technical expertise to its beneficiaries.

Trade and companies registration

RCS Paris B 775 665 599.

Consultation of legal documents

At the registered office – 5, rue Roland‑Barthes – 75598 Paris Cedex 12.

Financial year

From 1 January to 31 December.

Documents available to the public

During the period of their validity, the following documents (or copies of these documents) may, where applicable, be consulted on a physical medium at AFD’s head office or on its website (www.afd.fr):

a.   AFD’s current memorandum of association, amending

decrees and bylaws;

b.   Universal Registration Documents, reference documents;

c.   the annual financial statements, the consolidated financial statements, the half‑year reports, the statutory auditors’ reports on the annual financial statements, the statutory auditors’ reports on the consolidated financial statements.

1.1.2       General information about AFD’s share capital

AFD's funding amounted to €4,717,998,856 in 2024. In accordance with the provisions of Article R.515‑15 of the CMF, this allocation may be increased by incorporation of reserves upon deliberation of the Board of Directors approved by decree of the Minister of the Economy and Finance. It may also be increased through the allocation of public funds in accordance with current laws and regulations.

1.1.3        Dividends

Pursuant to Article 79 of the amending Finance Law No. 2001‑1276 of 28 December 2001 (amended by Article 88 of the amending Finance Law for 2003 No. 2003‑1312 of 30 December 2003), a dividend may be paid to the French State. The dividend is deducted as a priority from the distributable profit for the financial year, under the meaning of Article L.232‑11 of the French Commercial Code. It may be deducted from the available reserves.

1.2       The AFD Group’s strategy

The Group’s strategy is described on pages 6 and 7.

1.3      AFD operations

1.3.1       Overview

Main missions

AFD is responsible for financing international development projects and programmes within the strategic framework defined by the Interministerial Committee for International Co‑operation and Development (CICID). The framework agreement of 20 July 2021 signed between the French State and AFD defines the latter’s role and public service missions as well as the financial relations between them. AFD is also responsible for financing development in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities and in New Caledonia.

Under its bylaws, AFD may also carry out other activities and provide services related to its mission:

M it is responsible for directly or indirectly providing technical expertise to its beneficiaries (Article R.515‑6 of the CMF);

M in addition to its operations on its own behalf, it is authorised to carry out a certain number of operations on behalf of third parties:

M as such, it may represent financing companies, other French or international credit institutions, the European Union, foreign States or international organisations and institutions (Article R.515‑13 of the CMF),

M it is also authorised to manage public and private funds in the context of operations financed by the European Union, by international institutions or organisations, by public authorities, by foreign States, by credit institutions and development banks and by public or private legal entities, governed by French or foreign law. It may also entrust the management of public or private funds to the same entities under specific agreements (Article 10, paragraph II of Programming Law No. 2021‑1031 of 4 August 2021 on solidarity‑based development and the fight against global inequalities),

The AFD Group’s strategy

The capital allocations received by AFD do not give rise to compensation.

After examining AFD’s financial position and ascertaining the existence of distributable amounts, on the basis of the report of the Board of Directors, the Minister for the Economy and the Minister responsible for the budget set by decree the dividend paid to the State.

M AFD also manages operations financed by the French State’s budget on behalf and at the risk of the latter (Article R.515‑12 of the CMF);

M it has the task of managing the annual loan portfolio delegated by the State for financing projects proposed by NGOs and ensuring project design and evaluation

(Article R.515‑11 of the CMF);

M AFD is increasingly focused on its intellectual production, in other words, discussion, production, capitalisation and research relating to development aid and sustainable development issues;

M lastly, AFD, provides training and further education for top‑level managers in the foreign countries and the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities in its area of operation via the Development Campus (formerly CEFEB: Centre for Financial, Economic and Banking Studies), which it founded in 1961.

Contractual targets and resources

The purpose of the contractual targets and resources (COM) agreed between the French government and AFD is to define AFD’s objectives and schedule its resources. They cover all of the AFD Group’s activities, and set the guidelines for them, in foreign countries and the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities, while considering targets and characteristics unique to each type of intervention. It also covers the coordination of intellectual production, communication, support and advisory activities for the State and the policy for AFD partners.

AFD operations

1.3.2         AFD’s proprietary activities

The following types of financing are available:

1.3.2.1     In foreign countries

Current activities

M Grants

Priority operations in priority poor countries financed by

MEAE budget resources (Programme 209), DGT (Programme 110) and by the share of the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) directly allocated to AFD in 2017 and 2018. Grants are broken down into (i) financing project aid, (ii) advance research funds or supporting projects, (iii) equity investments in partnerships and facilities.

M Loans

M The non‑sovereign pricing grid includes subsidised products with different subsidy levels depending on the country category defined by the DAC ⁽¹⁾. This subsidy is funded by State budgets. The structure also includes a market‑rate product that is entirely unsubsidised.

M The sovereign pricing structure includes concessional products obtained due to direct subsidisation and/or use of RCSs from the French Treasury. The level of subsidisation varies according to country and project;

M Guarantees

Guarantee activity in foreign countries entails, on the one hand, commitments made directly by AFD to cover such operations as borrowings, issue subscriptions or cash facilities and, on the other hand, guarantee commitments through Ariz, its guarantee facility. This facility guarantees private‑sector outstandings through local banks that request it. Ariz is open to all of AFD’s areas of operation in accordance with the geographical objectives set in its contractual targets and resources. Ariz offers two standard individual guarantee and portfolio guarantee products and additional innovative products such as a capital guarantee.

Mandate‑specific operations

These include overall budgetary aid (GBS) from the Treasury (Programme 110) provided in the form of grants, mainly in the least developed countries (LDCs) as well as the use of grants financed by the C2D mechanism (multi‑year debt reduction and development contract).

1.3.2.2   In French Overseas Departments and Collectivities

Since 2019, all the financial tools available to AFD under Action 9 of budget programme 123 of the Ministry for French Overseas Departments and Collectivities (grants and loan subsidies) have been part of the sustainable trajectory pursued by the Ministry, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

AFD’s overseas activities are mainly carried out via loans (subsidised and non‑subsidised), grants and guarantees. They aim to contribute to the development of overseas territories and to integration in their regional environment.

M Loans

M Financing public‑sector investment in a spirit of partnership, especially thanks to the support given to local authorities for defining and implementing their development strategies. This activity takes the form of subsidised loans to the public sector (local authorities, EPCIs, public institutions, non‑profit groups) or in the form of non‑subsidised loans. AFD’s loan outstandings in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities amounted to €6.9bn, which positions AFD as a major financial partner of the overseas public sector;

M In addition, AFD can grant short‑term loans to public authorities, to pre‑finance subsidies from the EU, the State or from higher local authorities;

M Financing of the private sector through direct lending to companies at market rates, in a spirit of complementarity with the banking sector, and consistent with the climate commitments of the AFD Group and the SDGs;

M AFD also supports the development of micro‑credit institutions in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities by contributing to their refinancing.

M Grants

M In addition to its loan activity, AFD implements consulting and support actions for the overseas public sector. The Agency thus works with public players on capacity building for their investment operations;

     M In      2024,    the    French      Overseas     Departments      and

Collectivities Fund (FOM), created at the end of 2019 by the Ministry of Overseas Departments and Collectivities and managed by AFD, made it possible to mobilise grants to support engineering from overseas public players, with resources increasing compared to previous years. Moreover, technical assistance continued with the COROM contracts (recovery contract in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities), intended to provide technical and financial support to overseas local authorities, in exchange for strict commitments from local authorities. This Corom support was also extended to 12 new municipalities for the 2024‑2026 period.

M Guarantees

M AFD also carries out a significant medium to long‑term bank loan guarantee activity for small and medium businesses in the French Pacific collectivities through

Sogefom, in which it is the majority shareholder;

M It manages the FOGAP (Guarantee Fund for Agriculture, Fisheries, Aquaculture and Forestry sectors) created in 2010 by the French State and entrusted to AFD;

M The FGSPM (Saint‑Pierre‑et‑Miquelon Guarantee Funds) and the Mayotte Guarantee Fund, for the General Economy section (FGM‑EG), are run on a run‑off basis due to the deployment of Bpifrance “guaranteed” products in these regions. AFD is responsible for its management.

M Management or service mandates in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities.

M AFD has a stake on its own behalf in the share capital of Société Immobilière de Nouvelle Calédonie (SIC).

1.3.2.3      Intellectual production

AFD ensures that the projects it finances integrate the development issues of the future. Through its research and development, AFD helps to construct the future sustainable development models and orientations. AFD relies on intellectual production through modelling, studies and assessments, the management of a network of experts and the publication of its research work to increase the added value of its operations. Through its experimentation processes, it also promotes research into new practices. All these activities are part of AFD’s strategic and operational orientations. They are carried out in partnership with French and international research centers, with a focus on the use and promotion of expertise of Southern countries.

1.3.2.4   Promotion of knowledge on sustainable development

Based in Marseille and Paris, the AFD Group Campus (formerly Cefeb) aims to design, develop and deploy innovative educational pathways and educational resources (training cycles, seminars, capsules, MOOCs, etc.) and to lead learning communities, for the benefit of AFD Group employees and stakeholders who contribute to the transitions towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the countries where AFD operates. The aim of the AFD Group Campus training sessions is to jointly develop new forms of understanding and share the knowledge, know‑how and interpersonal skills necessary to become committed and creative change professionals in the service of transitions.

1.3.3       AFD activities under a specific mandate

AFD’s bylaws provide for cases in which AFD acts on behalf of third parties. In accordance with Article R.515‑12 of the CMF, AFD manages the specific operations financed by the French State’s budget on the State’s behalf and at its risk. The terms of these operations are set out in agreements with the appropriate ministries.

AFD operations

These are either (i) framework agreements governing terms for AFD’s implementation of a project category, or (ii) individual temporary agreements setting terms for the implementation of a specific project.

Moreover, pursuant to Article 10, paragraph II of Programming Law No. 2021‑1031 of 4 August 2021 on solidarity‑based development and the fight against global inequalities, AFD is authorised to carry out activities on behalf of other third parties (European Union, international institutions or organisations, foreign States but also for any public authority, any credit institution, development banks or public or private institutions and generally for public or private legal entities, governed by French or foreign law). To this end, it has been entrusted with managing loans delegated by the European Commission or other financial stakeholders (the UK’s DFID, the Monegasque Cooperation, etc.).

In accordance with international accounting rules, these activities are excluded from the consolidated balance sheet, they are made at the request of third parties. AFD’s compensation for this type of activity is decided on a case‑by‑case basis as set out by the agreement and is intended to cover AFD’s costs.

1.3.4       AFD’s areas of operation (see Appendix 1)

The geographical areas in which AFD is authorised to operate are listed in Appendix 1, with the understanding that its operating mandate (forms of intervention, sectors, etc.) differs according to the country.

1.3.5       Information about any restrictions on the use of capital that have materially affected, or could materially affect, directly or indirectly, the issuer’s operations

The restrictions on the use of capital that could materially affect the issuer’s operations are limited to:

M equity investments made by AFD: these are transactions subject to State approval by an interministerial decree under the conditions set by Decree No. 53‑707 of 9 August 1953 on the State’s control of national companies;

M lending granted by AFD outside of its geographic scope of operations defined by Article R.515‑9 of the French Monetary and Financial Code: these transactions require State authorisation under the conditions set by the aforesaid Article R.515‑9 of the French Monetary and Financial Code.

Own‑account activities

1.4      Own‑account activities

AFD’s lending and grant activities are financed by different kinds of resources.

For its own‑account activities, AFD uses three main types of financing:

Budgetary resources

M Funds for foreign country and French Overseas Departments and Collectivities loan subsidies (€290M of credit appropriations drawn in 2024 ⁽¹⁾);

M Grants received from the State for project grant, French Overseas Departments and Collectivities and NGO activities (€779M of credit appropriations drawn in 2024 ⁽²⁾).

Loans from the State (special condition resource)

Up to 2017 inclusive, AFD contracted loans with the State for a period of 30 years, including 10 years deferred at 0.25%. Apart from the liquidity that they provide and their eligibility for Tier 2 of the regulatory capital, these resources contribute to subsidising the outstandings that justify the use of State rates: the financial advantage in comparison with market resources is thus measured and injected into operations making use of subsidies.

In 2024, AFD received €150M in special condition resource (RCS) in the first half of 2024. The funds were repaid to the French State in advance in the second half of 2024 in order to allow AFD’s capital increase in the same amount.

1)    Excluding RCS.

2)    Subsidies excluding DGT.

Market borrowings

AFD’s bond issues totalled €7,966M in the 2024 financial year.

AFD issued five bonds, including one tap issue, in the form of public issues on the euro, sterling and US dollar markets for a total amount of €6,446M:

M £350M at 3.5 years (equivalent to €407M);

M €2,000M at 10 years;

M $2,000M at 5 years (equivalent to €1,843M) in SDG bond format;

M $2,000M at 2.8 years (equivalent to €1,797M) in SDG bond format;

M €400M at 10.2 years via a tap issue.

AFD has also undertaken:

M eight tap issues without the order book being opened for an amount of €1,290M, of which €790M in SDG bond format;

M five private placements in euros, Dominican pesos, Turkish lira and Australian dollars for a total of €230M.

Taking into account the issues completed in 2024, the nominal stock of AFD’s market debt at the end of 2024 reached a volume of €54.8bn at the corporate level and €53.5bn at the consolidated level.

Own‑account activities

Own‑account activities

To meet its growing financing requirements, AFD ensures that it constantly maintains and expands its investor base which guarantees secure access to cash resources and competitive prices. The investor base by geographic area and type of “public” operation ⁽¹⁾ breaks down as follows:

        TGeographical area                                                                             _TType of operation

1) So‑called “public” operations generally meet three main criteria: (i) they are publicised widely to target domestic and international investors, (ii) an order book is held to collate investor subscriptions and (iii) there is a minimum amount to meet the benchmark size (equal to or greater than €500M or $500M for fixed‑rate loans).

AFD Group

1.5      AFD Group

1.5.1         Scope of consolidation

As part of its mission to finance development, AFD holds equity investments in companies or organisations in the geographic areas in which it is active, i.e. foreign countries and the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities. The percentages of ownership and of voting rights shown below represent both direct and indirect investments.

TAFD Group – Scope of consolidation at 31 December 2024

                                                                                                              Percentage                  Percentage                 Percentage                  Percentage

                                                                                                              of ownership             of ownership                   of control                   of control

                                                                                                  Countries               Method               31/12/2024               31/12/2023               31/12/2024               31/12/2023

AFD Group – Scope of consolidation at 31 December 2024. FC: Full consolidation – EQ: Equity method.

Details of the consolidation scope are presented in Note 6.2.3.1.1 to the consolidated financial statements.

1.5.2         Information about subsidiaries

The information below (company data in accordance with French accounting standards) sets out the principal data relating to the subsidiaries which are fully consolidated into the financial statements of AFD.

TProparco (Société de promotion et de participation pour la coopération économique)

AFD Group

TExpertise France

TSogefom (Société de Gestion des fonds de garanties d’Outre‑mer)

TSoderag (Société de développement régional Antilles‑Guyane)

TFisea (Fonds d’investissement et de soutien aux entreprises en Afrique)

AFD Group

1.5.3          Presentation of subsidiaries

1.5.3.1     Proparco

Proparco is a development financial institution.

At the end of December 2024, Proparco’s share capital stood at €1,353,513,248 and was distributed between AFD for 85.21% and private shareholders for 14.79% (including 6.2% for French financial institutions, 7.1% for international financial institutions, 1% for investors and 0.5% for ethical funds and foundations).

Proparco is Group’s only player in private sector activities. Its mission is to work with the private sector to promote sustainable and inclusive growth models with a low carbon footprint in developing and emerging countries. Proparco plays a role in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). Its sector‑focused strategy, adapted to match each country’s level of development, is focused on the productive sector, banking intermediation and financial systems, infrastructure, energy, health, education and private equity. Proparco’s areas of operation now include all developing countries as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development’s (OECD’s), Development Assistance Committee (DAC ⁽¹⁾) and covers a geographic area extending from the major emerging countries to the poorest countries, especially in Africa where countries must meet high corporate social responsibility (CSR), and impact requirements. Proparco offers a complete range of financial instruments to meet the specific needs of private investors in developing countries: loans, quasi‑equity, equity and guarantees.

1.5.3.2      Expertise France

Expertise France is the French interministerial agency for international technical cooperation, under the dual supervision of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industry. Expertise France carries out a public service mission by contributing to the promotion of technical assistance and French public international expertise abroad, with bilateral and multilateral financing. It operates within the framework of France’s foreign policy on development cooperation, influence and economic diplomacy, in conjunction with the ministries and organisations concerned by the provision or secondment of public experts and in the framework of the strategic orientations defined by the French State.

Working closely with French public institutions but also with the European Union, of which it is the second largest agency, Expertise France responds to the request of partner countries wishing to improve the quality of their public policies. To this end, Expertise France designs and implements national or regional projects in the main areas of public action: the planet, democratic institutions and citizenship, the fight against inequality, economic and social development, international stability and crisis and conflict prevention. It mobilises technical French, European and international expertise, both public and private, in support of its projects and its partners, by promoting dialogue among peers. In addition to the project activity, Expertise France also manages the system of international       technical experts                 who          are            positioned                in international administrations and organisations. Present on five continents, Expertise France thus contributes to forging a lasting   partnership               among      players      in             an             international community committed to building a shared world.

1.5.3.3     Fisea

The subscribed capital of FISEA SASU (i.e. combining the two “historical” FISEA and FISEA+ initiatives) amounted to €380M at the end of December 2024 following the €30M capital increase carried out in December 2024.

The “historical” FISEA initiative is fully committed and all approved amounts have been subscribed.

Launched in 2021, the Fisea+ initiative approved 7 financing projects (including a top‑up) in 2024 for €56M and 2 delegated technical assistance projects    totalling €1.4M      for            two investment funds.

In 2024 Fisea+ made four new signatures as well as two additional signatures (signatures in two times for existing projects) for a total amount of €26M, bringing the amount signed to date to approximately €138M, i.e. 65% of the 7‑year investment objective (€210M). These projects involve five general investment funds and one educational institution.

Disbursements for the two vehicles ("historical" FISEA initiatives and Fisea+) amounted to €21M (compared to €31M in 2023).

1.5.3.4     Soderag

The Regional Development Company of the Antilles‑French Guiana (Soderag) is a regional development company in which AFD took control in 1995 at the State’s request. The losses and poor outlook led to the company’s liquidation in July 1998. AFD acts as Soderag’s out‑of‑court liquidator and carries out transactions relating to the Company’s liabilities and assets. Outstanding cash advances by AFD to Soderag amount to €8M and are fully written down in AFD’s parent company financial statements. In March 2023, a capital increase by incorporation of AFD receivables took place, bringing the capital from €5M to €112M. The portfolio of assets comprises six equity investments, one of which is currently being sold, before the liquidation of Soderag can be completed.

1.5.3.5     Sogefom

Sogefom (French Overseas Guarantee Fund Management Company) manages guarantee funds in the French Pacific Collectivities, providing partial guarantees for financing operations undertaken by credit institutions in this zone. In particular, its aim is to support small and very small businesses (SMEs and VSEs) in a range of economic sectors. AFD manages Sogefom within the framework of a regulated agreement.

AFD Group

The sustained level of activity seen for several years (€48.2M in 2022 and €43.7M in 2023) increased significantly in 2024 with a record production of €84.5M, mainly due to the strong appetite of New Caledonian banks for the “Reconstruction” guarantee put in place in this territory following the events of May 2024. In 2024, production in New Caledonia amounted to €58.9M (+378% compared to 2023), and is more than double that of French Polynesia, at €25.5M (-18.8% compared to 2023).

Gross consolidated outstandings for guarantees at 31 December 2024 amounted to €190.1M, compared to €135.6M at the end of 2023, i.e. a 40% increase. These outstandings break down as follows: 50.37% in French Polynesia (2,158 guarantees), 49.60% in New Caledonia (1,419 guarantees) and 0.03% in Wallis and Futuna (1 guarantee).

1.5.3.6     Banque Socredo

Socredo (50% French Polynesia, 35% AFD and 15% BRED), a French mixed economy public limited company (société anonyme d’économie mixte – law of 1946) with share capital of €184.4M, approved as a bank since 1984, is a major player in the financing of the Polynesian economy. Its activities extend to every sector of the economy and, more particularly, to several key sectors such as housing, the marine sector and tourism.

Socredo is the leading bank in Papeete, with a 42.7% market share across all types of lending and a 39.1% share of deposit‑taking. It differs from the two competing banks in the market (Banque de Polynésie and Banque de Tahiti, subsidiaries of Société Générale and Groupe BPCE, respectively) as a result of its presence throughout the country, as well as its unique positioning in inclusive banking and green finance. In December 2023, Socredo placed sustainable development at the heart of its new strategy for 2024‑2028.

In addition to its banking activity, Socredo has three main subsidiaries: OSB (electronic banking, checks and desktop publishing), Ofina (acquisition of flows and issuance of the American Express card for the French Pacific) and OCA (call centres). It also holds OCI (management of equity investments and venture capital) and Ofimmo (private social housing).

At 31 December 2024, Socredo employed 517 people. The projected financial closing as at the end of 2024 shows a total balance sheet of €3.5bn, slightly higher than in 2023 (€3.4bn). It mainly consists of customer receivables for €2.6bn (compared with €2.5bn in 2023) and deposit liabilities of €2.52bn (compared with €2.49bn in 2023). In 2024, the bank generated net banking income (NBI) of €94.3M and net income of €13,6M, compared with €95M and €14.5M, respectively, in 2023. All regulatory ratios are satisfactory.

AFD is actively involved in the governance of Socredo with three out of its ten directors.

1.5.3.7   Société Immobilière de Nouvelle‑Calédonie (SIC)

SIC (Société Immobilière de Nouvelle‑Calédonie) was created in 1988 when SICNC (Société immobilière et de crédit de Nouvelle‑Calédonie) was split into two separate companies: BCI (Banque calédonienne d'investissement) and SIC (Société immobilière et de crédit de Nouvelle‑Calédonie). Its mission is to contribute to social cohesion and the fight against inequalities and exclusion, by offering housing solutions adapted to populations with the most modest means.

AFD holds 50% of SIC's capital, alongside the New Caledonia local authority. SIC manages a portfolio of approximately 11,000 housing units in which over 45 000 Caledonians live (1 out of 6 Caledonians at the regional level).

Following the riots of 2024, which caused a marked increase in unpaid bills and commercial vacancies for social landlords (linked in particular to the departure of tenants from their homes), as well as other external parameters (indexation of a large part of its debt on Livret A savings accounts and inflation in the territory not offset by the rent revision index), the balance of the SIC was significantly downgraded. The company’s income moved from -€6.8M in 2023 to -€12.2M in 2024.

In the short term, AFD is providing support for SIC in re‑profiling its long‑term debt with Banque des Territoires and, in January 2024, granted it a €20M cash line to cope with these financial constraints.

In the longer term, structural reforms of the financing of social housing are necessary to ensure the balance of social housing operators, and AFD can assist the government of New Caledonia in its approach (reform of 2% on housing, creation of an unpaid housing guarantee fund, indexation of rents to inflation, inclusion of the housing sector in the future SGL, etc.).

1.6             Activities of the Agence Française de Développement

Group in 2024

1.6.1          International economic context

1) Word Economic Outlook.

notably). Conflicts (Ukraine, Middle East) obviously remain risk factors, although they are difficult to quantify, and even if 2025 could also be the year in which the crisis begins to end in either case. On the other hand, other conflicts, less regional and more geo‑economic, could take over and affect

1) The term premium differs from the risk premium: the term premium is the remuneration required by an investor to hold a financial asset over the long term rather than the short term, while the risk premium is the additional remuneration that an investor requires to invest in a risky asset rather than a risk‑free asset.

growth through a slowdown in trade and investment, notably due to the fact that the American and Chinese economies, together, now account for 43% of Global GDP. Lastly, the Chinese real estate crisis, which is about to turn into a deeper challenge to the growth model, continues to cause great uncertainty in many emerging economies, which are

integrated in the Chinese value chains or which export raw materials to China, a market‑maker in agricultural products, minerals and even hydrocarbons. On the other hand, these risk factors are accompanied by a last one whose materialization is proven but the magnitude of which remains uncertain: the acceleration and intensification of climate disasters.

1.6.2            Information about offices and activities at 31 December 2024

The table below lists all Group companies, whether consolidated fully or using the equity method.

Offices by country                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Activities

       1.6.3        AFD Group activities

TAFD Group financing approvals in foreign countries and in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities

TAFD Group financing approvals by type of financing

Financing data includes all AFD and Proparco activities. Data relating to Expertise France’s activity are presented separately.

The AFD Group’s overall activity amounted to €13bn in commitment approvals in 2024, stable compared to 2023 (€13.1bn) with some variations:

M a €300M decrease in approvals on the AFD scope (excluding Proparco sub‑holdings), marked by:

M a decrease in foreign countries, which is notably explained by a reduction in grants (-€108M), the volume of C2Ds ⁽¹⁾ (-€335M) and equity investments (-€200M), and by an increase in loans (+€115M) and delegated loans

(+€178M),

1) Debt reduction and development contract.

M a slight increase in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities, of €66M, coming almost exclusively from guarantees (+€53M).

M the increase in approvals on the Proparco scope (€178M) was largely due to bond activities (+€251M), equity investments (+€110M) and Fisea (+€35). The guarantee activity, for its part, was down (-€228M).

Current activities

Loans this year amounted to €7.88bn compared to €7.65bn in 2023.

In 2024, the year was marked by an increase in non‑sovereign business (+€225M, or +9%), mainly driven by non‑sovereign, non‑concessional loans (+€214M). Sovereign activity was stable at €5.25bn.

Total grant approvals amounted to €751M at the end of 2024, down compared with 2023 (-€99M), due to a reduction in budgetetary resources.

Activity on specific mandates was down sharply compared to the previous year: approvals amounted to €230M compared with €571M in 2023. This decrease is mainly due to the run‑off management of C2Ds (-€335M).

Activities using resources from other financial stakeholders

These activities were up, to €727M, i.e. an €178M increase (+32%) compared to 2023. This growth was mainly due to the deployment by AFD of the Green Climate Fund programmes (+€65M, mainly on delegated loans), and the continued mobilisation of AFD as partner agent of the Global Education Partnership (+€50M). These two vertical funds currently contribute to the largest mobilisation, outside the EU, of external resources by AFD. In addition, in 2024, an exceptional €92M grant was made on funds obtained from USAID in 2018. This gap between receipt of funds and their granting was known in advance, as the project (desalination in Jordan) required numerous studies and preparatory work.

Total volume of         approvals, disbursements, undisbursed balances and outstandings ⁽¹⁾

The change in AFD’s current activities in foreign countries over the last two years can be broken down as follows for the four types of financing:

1) Including sub‑investments. Excluding grants on behalf of third parties and transactions on behalf of the State.

Difference 2024/2023

         In millions of euros                                                                                                                                             2024                              2023                                 €M                               in %

*  Signed and unsigned.

Approvals of current activities in foreign countries amounted to €8.8bn in 2024 compared to €9.1bn in 2023.

Disbursements amounted to €6.3bn, up compared to 2023 (€5.8bn), thanks to a better level of sovereign loan disbursements.

 In 2024, 41% of the payments were for projects granted in 2024 and 2023 (12% and 29%, respectively), and 20% by the grants in 2022 and 2021 (10% for each vintage).

 A breakdown of the activity by region and business sector is presented in Sections 1.6.4 and 1.6.5 For a breakdown of approvals and disbursements by type of financing, see Appendix 6.

1.6.3.2   AFD activities in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities

In 2024, AFD continued to support actors in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities to implement their sustainable development projects.

Commitment approvals (loans, guarantees and grants) in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities amounted to €996M in 2024, a 7% increase compared to the previous year. Business on specific Sogefom and FOGAP mandates amounted to €86M (compared to €44M in 2023). This increase was due to Sogefom’s production, which amounted to €85M in 2024, a marked increase linked to the support provided by the aid system for the Caledonian economy. In 2024, a significant portion of overseas activities once again related to the financing of the public sector, in an economic context generally deteriorated across all regions (with the exception of French Polynesia) and marked by the political instability that prevailed in France, but also by factors specific to the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities: repercussions of social movements in Mayotte and Martinique, institutional crisis in New Caledonia, Cyclone Chido in Mayotte. Commitment approvals (loans and grants) to the public sector thus amounted to €758M. Loans to the overseas public sector, which account for more than 80% of own‑account loans, increased by 16% compared to the previous year, in order to support local authorities facing persistent financial difficulties. They are based principally on subsidised loans (nearly 75%) to provide financing at preferential rates for investment projects with a strong social and environmental impact in the regions. In 2024, AFD rolled out the FTM (“facilité multi‑tranche” or multi‑tranche facility) tool for the first time in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities, with overseas public sector players in three regions: the local authorities of Martinique and French Guiana, as well as the Reunion Island department and region, to partially finance the multi‑year investments of these players over the next three years (2024 to 2027), i.e. a total amount of €155M for the first tranches in 2024. This tool aims to structure a public policy dialogue with partner local authorities in order to support them in virtuous trajectories, whether ecological or social.

Non‑subsidized loans amounted to €188M, and mainly involved pre‑financing of European and State grants to the public sector.

Lastly, AFD is continuing to support and accelerate public sector engineering, thanks to the renewal and increased resources of the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities Fund (FOM). Created by the Ministry of French Overseas Departments and Collectivities at the end of 2019, it provides subsidies intended to strengthen the capacities of public contracting authorities. In accordance with the guidelines of the Interministerial Committee for the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities (CIOM) of July 2023, one of the measures of which aims to strengthen engineering in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities, the FOM was endowed with additional resources for 2024 (€17M, compared with €10M in 2023).

The FOM’s interventions have mainly targeted engineering support for public contracting authorities in order to reinforce their basic capacities and facilitate the initiation of their investment projects. In 2024, 43 projects were backed and nearly twenty technical assistants were deployed to serve overseas authorities via the FOM.

Moreover, AFD continues to implement the “technical assistance” component of the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities Recovery Contracts (COROM), launched in 2021 following the report by parliamentarians Georges Patient and Jean‑René Cazeneuve, to increase support for local authorities in the most difficulty. Following the success of the system, a new €4.9M budget was entrusted to AFD in 2024 by the Ministry of Overseas Departments and Collectivities for use over the 2024‑2026 period. It is also worth noting the continuation of Expertise France's mandate in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities, initiated in 2023 for an experimental three‑year period. Expertise France is responsible for recruiting technical assistants for players in the overseas territories.

Private sector business in 2024 amounted to €138M in market‑conditional direct loans and €86M in guarantees (Sogefom and Fogap). This level of business is satisfactory with projects dedicated to the energy transition, support for the financial sector, and significant support for entrepreneurship and VSEs via Sogefom.

TTotal volume of approvals, disbursements and outstandings (loans on AFD's own behalf)

Difference 2024/2023

In millions of euros                                                                                                                                                    2024                              2023                                 €M                               in %

The French Overseas Departments and Collectivities include the collectivities in the Pacific, Saint‑Pierre‑et‑Miquelon, Saint‑Martin and Saint‑Barthélemy.

TBreakdown by region

                                                                                                                                  Approvals                                              Difference 2024/2023

         In millions of euros                                                                                                                                             2024                              2023                                 €M                               in %

Some French Overseas Departments and Collectivities posted a significant increase in approvals, notably French Guiana and Guadeloupe. The amount of commitments in New Caledonia also increased sharply in 2024, in view of the granting of two private sector credit lines: financing for the Caledonian

Investment Bank (BCI) through three credit lines (€50M), and a

1.6.3.3     Proparco activities

TProparco approvals – foreign countries

In millions of euros

renewal of the short‑term credit line for SIC (€20M), in response to the economic crisis that the region is going through. The decrease in approvals in Mayotte is explained by the particularly difficult context that this region faced in 2024: an unprecedented water crisis, a social crisis and Cyclone Chido, which devastated a large part of its territory.

                    Amount                                  Amount                                 Difference

  approved for 2024  approved for 2023                                                 2024/2023

Pursuant to Proparco’s 2023‑2027 strategy, 2024 focused on the following priority operational objectives: Africa (including Choose Africa and Venture Capital Africa), climate, Gender 2X (reduction of gender inequalities) and Bottom 40 (financing for the benefit of the most vulnerable). Proparco is the only AFD Group private sector player, as the amended Finance Law of 30 July 2020 established the possibility for AFD to use its subsidiary Proparco to provide certain services (quasi‑public).

Proparco’s 2024 net approvals (excluding Fisea) amounted to €2,854M, broken down as follows:

M equity investments of €327M (€217M in 2023);

M guarantees of €410M (€639M in 2023), including €220M in trade finance;

1.6.3.4      Expertise France

M grants of €32M (€17M in 2023);

M transactions on loans, quasi‑equity and other securities of €2,027M (€1,751M in 2023) which break down as follows: M loans: €1,762M:

M of which subsidised loans: €245M (€205M in 2023),

M of which loans backed by State grants: €15M (€28M in 2023),

M of which AFD sub‑investment loans representing

€524M of these transactions in 2024 (€487M in 2023); M other securities: €265M (€14M in 2023).

A breakdown of the activity by region and business sector is presented in Sections 1.6.4.2 and 1.6.5.2.

The Expertise France (EF) business posted positive results for the fourth consecutive year. Revenue (project execution) amounted to €448M, very close to the planned budget, up 15% compared to 2023. This effort is based on well‑oriented growth drivers: ramp‑up of the Health Initiative following the ambitious replenishment since 2023; continued growth in the number of international technical experts; partnership with AFD, etc.

In 2024, the rebalancing among the main donors financing Expertise France's projects was confirmed. The European Union remains the leading lessor of Expertise France with 42% of the portfolio, compared to 46% in 2023. Transactions financed by French donors as well as by AFD stabilised with respective shares of 29% and 24%.

With the exception of the theme of Peace, Stability and Security, the themes covered by Expertise France grew in 2024. In particular, projects related to Sustainable Development, Human Capital and Social Development, as well as the execution of the order of International ETI Technical Experts, developed significantly in 2024.

The breakdown of revenue in 2024 confirms the alignment of the agency with the geographical priorities of French aid. The agency is committed to operational development towards new regions (Americas, Indo‑Pacific region, the Balkans), but it remains highly concentrated on the African continent, to which it devotes nearly 50% of its revenue. Geographical diversification also takes place through the agency’s business in Ukraine.

AFD’s current activity in Africa in 2024 was up compared to 2023; the volume of commitments amounted to €3.5bn (compared to €2.9bn the previous year). Non‑sovereign activity reached a historically high level, contributing €945M to the business plan for the year (compared to €408M in 2023). While this area of activity is illustrated by the emblematic transaction for the OCP group in Morocco (€350M transformational loan to back the implementation of its decarbonisation programme), it is necessary to highlight the sectoral diversification of the players backed (financial sector, transport, municipalities and local authorities).

The increase in activities in Southern Africa is explained by the public policy loan in the amount of €400M to back the implementation of the Just Energy Transition (JET) in South Africa and by two major transactions in Angola (agriculture) and in Mozambique (railway). The business plan in North Africa was driven by the two Moroccan projects, OCP Green Hydrogen mentioned above (€350M) and Social Protection (€100M). In Central Africa, two sovereign transactions are worth highlighting: €173M in Gabon in the transport sector and €150M in Cameroon in the water and sanitation sector. Lastly, in a difficult macroeconomic context, numerous interventions in the form of budget support were provided to the affected economies (Guinea‑Bissau, Mozambique, DRC, Djibouti, CAR).

In 2024, projects with climate co‑benefits represented 61% of the volume granted.Equally, the year was also marked by the roll‑out of the transformational agenda through numerous projects: support for museum initiatives in Guinea and Benin, budgetary funding intended to support Benin’s cultural policy, support for entrepreneurship through the Choose Africa 2 initiative (in Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Egypt and Senegal), and reinforcement of the practice of sport in Tunisia and the DRC. Several projects on the theme of migration were granted this year in Tunisia, in the Cameroon/CAR border area and in Senegal, as well as on the theme of cooperation in terms of migration policies in Senegal/ Guinea/RCI. Lastly, significant activities were carried out in terms of prevention and response to crises and violent conflicts through nearly €98M in Minka financing.

The Orients region remained structurally exposed to three major risks, which are sources of instability: i) the persistence of crises and conflicts, ii) the reorganisation of value chains and trade flows, under the threat of protectionist temptations, and iii) the devastating effects of climate change.

Financing approved in 2024 (€3bn), down compared to 2023, primarily benefited the countries of the new Enlargement and European Neighbours Regional Directorate (45%), followed by South‑East Asia (28%), South Asia (16%), Central and Eastern Asia (2%), and Middle East countries (9%). AFD’s current exposures to India, Indonesia and Turkey are close to major risk limits and are rigorously managed. On the other hand, the delinquency in Lebanon still prohibits any new debt for this country. In Sri Lanka, the agreement signed in June 2024 with the Public Creditors Committee for the treatment of debt and its bilateral implementation with France, which is to follow, paved the way for a gradual resumption of activities under the Le Maire doctrine.

AFD’s activity mainly took the form of sovereign loans (around 70% of commitments), notably with budget financing such as the €250M Climate PrPP ⁽¹⁾ in the Philippines. Grant transactions on its own behalf (around €100M, or 4% of approvals), were mainly mobilised for the benefit of the Middle East (€64M).

84% of these new commitments contributes to the objective of combating climate change (100% Paris Agreement), a level comparable to that of the last two years.

AFD’s activity in Latin America in 2024 relied on a limited number of countries, due to tensions over economic and political situations and with regard to State debt and the enforcement of the sustainable debt doctrine in three of them (Argentina, Bolivia and Cuba) prohibiting new sovereign commitments in these countries. In this context, the main driving forces of the department’s activity were Brazil (for an almost record volume of commitments of €787M) and Colombia (€395M), representing respectively 49% and 25% of the region's €1.6bn in annual commitments.

1) Public policy loan.

In terms of regional distribution, the Brazil/Southern Cone Regional Department increased its contribution to the achievement of the business plan (€798M), while the Andean local offices lowered their trajectory at €618M; the Central America Regional Department, for its part, contributed to the amount of €191M.

In line with the relationships established with public development banks (PDBs) during the Colombian edition of FICS (Cartagena, September 2023), the proportion of credit lines granted to Latin American development banks increased to reach 46% of the department’s portfolio, with strategic partnerships signed with leading PDBs.

Following the commitments made during the presidential trip, the Amazon was the subject of a specific approach through two credit lines for federal development banks, BNDES and BASA (the federal bank of the Amazon), for a cumulative amount of €280M, accompanied by a grant of €10M (Amabio) dedicated to the bioeconomy on the programme 209, the first building blocks of the aforementioned programme.

The contribution of AFD’s activity in Latin America to the fight against climate change (€1.1bn) remained at a high level.

AFD’s business in the Three Oceans in foreign States amounted to €538M in 2024, mainly in the form of sovereign loans (€309M). The reinforcement of AFD’s interventions in the Pacific Island States took shape in 2024 with the opening of three new representations in the region: in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu. Two first projects were granted in Papua New Guinea: a highly concessional loan of €24M for the rehabilitation and greening of the port of Rabaul, and a grant of €8M as part of the French contribution to the “country package” for the conservation of the biodiversity of forest and marine ecosystems.

Climate co‑benefits in the foreign States neighbouring the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities represented over 80% for 2024.

      1.6.4.2        Geographical distribution of Proparco approvals

In 2024, Africa remained at the heart of Proparco’s geographical mandate. Approvals on the African continent amounted to €1,010M, i.e. 36% of Proparco's approvals. Latin America represented €467M, the Orients €838M and the Three Oceans €206M. An amount of €276M was approved for projects impacting several countries.

39 countries (excluding multi‑country) were concerned by the loan approval decisions, including Turkey (€395M), Vietnam (€215M), Côte d'Ivoire (€151M) and Guatemala (€107M).

      1.6.4.3        Geographical breakdown of Expertise France revenue

In millions of euros                                                                                                            2024                                   2023                % of the 2024 total                 % of the 2023 total

The breakdown of Expertise France revenue in 2024 confirmed region, the Balkans), but it remains highly concentrated on the the very strong alignment of the agency with the geographical African continent, to which it devotes 50% of its revenue. priorities of French aid. The agency is committed to operational Geographical diversification also takes place through the development towards new regions (Americas, Indo‑Pacific agency’s business in Ukraine.

1.6.5           AFD Group activities by business sector

1.6.5.1           Breakdown of AFD approvals by sector of activity in foreign countries (current activity)

The 2023 and 2024 approvals including budgetary aid, guarantees given, loans, grants and equity investments in current activities are shown as follows, by branch of activity (mainly CICID sectors):

In millions of euros                                                                                                                      2024                                2023            % of the 2024 total             % of the 2023 total

In 2024, AFD completed several key steps in the implementation of its 100% SDG strategy: (i) the finalisation of the three cross‑cutting roadmaps – Planet, Social Link and Citizens – institutions that make it possible to affirm its commitment to sustainable development; (ii) the definition of a clear operational orientation towards the transformation of players (financing of transition plans) and the associated methods; (iii) inclusion and citizen participation, now anchored in the Agency’s action principles.

From a financial standpoint, the cross‑functional commitments were partially met, which should be a point of attention for 2025:

M the climate target was exceeded with more than €7.2bn committed (with a target of €6bn) and the biodiversity target was met (€1bn);

M as regards gender, the objective on the share of DCA2 grants ⁽¹⁾ was not met (11.2% against a target of 15%), which is notably explained by a decrease in grant resources and the pressure on the trade‑offs associated with their use; however, the target for DAC1 ⁽²⁾ and DAC2, all instruments, was exceeded (64% against a target of 55%), proving that the integration of gender is working;

M on the other hand, the democratic and inclusive governance indicator was down (58% against a target of 65%), due to large projects that do not contribute enough and the early implementation of the revised and more conservative

ADD ⁽³⁾ grid.

In terms of their contribution to the Group's strategic goals, it is worth highlighting a number of emblematic projects in 2024:

M climate and biodiversity: BDRE4 credit line in Brazil (natural disaster risk management), bioeconomy project in Ecuador, health‑sanitation project in Brazil;

M transformation of institutions: support for the implementation of the cultural policy in Benin (€60M);

M citizen participation: definition of the citizen participation methodology as part of the development of the public policy on the human right to food in Colombia (project to back the comprehensive rural reform for peace of €200M);

M budget financing: support for the 1st FB‑PR ⁽⁴⁾ provided to a local authority in Morocco (€26M);

M inequalities:        Itovia     project      in       Madagascar       (€7M);

FB‑PP ⁽⁵⁾ JET‑P ⁽⁶⁾ RSA (€400M);

M gender: FSOF ⁽⁷⁾ gender‑based violence project (€8M); ICETEX ⁽⁸⁾ loan in Colombia (€100M). The FSOF amounted to €35.5M in 2024, in line with the target of €35M.

Increase investment in quality sustainable infrastructure

Updated estimates for infrastructure investment needs remain very high worldwide ($6,900bn/year according to the OECD Infrastructure for a Climate‑Resilient Future of April 2024) and in Africa ($402bn/year according to AfDB’s Africa Economic Outlook 2024) to achieve the SDGs by 2030. These infrastructures concern energy, transport, water and sanitation but also digital technology: despite the opportunities for access to health services, education and financing related to the development of 5G, only 16% of the population of Africa has access to mobile Internet in rural areas, compared to 40% in urban areas.

In 2024, the total amount of the Group’s commitments

(excluding STOA) related to the “sustainable infrastructure” investment priority amounted to €6.4bn (excluding credit lines and dedicated public policy funding), of which 86% by AFD and 14% by Proparco.

The sectoral concentration of commitments for 2024 remained marked by energy and transport. For AFD, over 90% of these new commitments were based on transactions in four sectors (mobility and digital, energy, urban development and water‑sanitation); the remaining 10% concerned three other sectors (agriculture, rural development and biodiversity, health, education). For Proparco, renewable energies accounted for more than 50% of 2024 commitments, while transport, sustainable cities and digital technology together accounted for half of the activity.

Sustainable economy and finance: tackling vulnerabilities

For the Group, building a sustainable economy and finance means ensuring that growth creates decent jobs, reduces inequalities, and generates shared and inclusive prosperity, while ensuring that the essential functions provided by nature persists over time. It is an agenda that is fully consistent with the Paris Pact for People and for the Planet (4P), in order to fight both inequalities and the effects of climate change and the destruction of natural capital.

In 2024, the International Sustainable Finance and Development Agenda continued to be marked by the growing voice of developing countries calling for an overhaul of the international financial architecture and its governance.

1)    Scoring system according to the ranking established by the OECD (DAC markers). CAD 2 - gender equality is the main objective of the project.

2)    Scoring system according to the ranking established by the OECD (DAC markers). CAD 1 - gender equality is an important and deliberate objective of the project.

3)    Sustainable development analysis.

4)    Programme budget funding.

5)    Budgetary financing of public policies.

6)    Budgetary financing of public policies.

7)    Support fund for feminist organisations.

8)    Colombian Institute for Educational Credit and Technical Studies Abroad.

1.6.5.2        Breakdown of Proparco approvals by sector of activity

In millions of euros                                                                                                                      2024                                2023            % of the 2024 total             % of the 2023 total

The financial sector was the predominant sector in Proparco’s approvals in 2024. It represented 41% (€1,178M) of the total amount of approvals for the 2024 financial year, representing a

€256M      decrease   compared to             2023        (€1,435M).               The infrastructure     sector       increased by             +15%        (+€104M), consolidating its second position with €777M in approvals in 2024 (compared to €673M in 2023).

The volume of approvals in the corporate sector increased sharply, from €448M in 2023 to €672M in 2024, i.e. +50%. It represented 24% of the volume of approvals in 2024 compared to 14% at the end of 2023.

Transactions approved for investment funds amounted to €227M, up +88% compared to 2023 (+€106M), representing 9% of the volume of approvals, vs. €121M in 2023.

Global Initiative programme.

1.6.6       The Partnership Approach: Working with Other for Greater Impact

To achieve its goal of being a "100% SDG" Group, AFD defines and implements its actions in the framework of multiple, concrete partnerships. The Group thus acts in concert with French partners (civil society organisations, public institutions, foundations, local authorities, companies), European and international partners (regional and multilateral banks, UN organisations, philanthropists) and local partners (civil society organisations, foundations, local authorities) in the various countries where it operates.

In 2024, it is mainly worth noting that:

At the Finance in Common Summit (FICS) in Cartagena in 2023, over 530 public development banks around the world highlighted the weight of their financing in the international financial architecture and committed to strengthening their alignment with the Paris Agreement to catalyse public and private financial flows in favour of the climate and the SDGs. The next FICS Summit is scheduled for February 2025 in Cape Town, at the same place and in parallel to the meeting of G20 Finance Ministers who will discuss the international architecture for development financing. It is co‑organised by DBSA, AIIB and AFD. During COP29 in Baku, IDFC organised a pavilion, for the fifth consecutive year, with the programming of around thirty events involving 200 panellists and the majority of the Club’s banks and their partners.

In 2024, the Group's mobilisation efforts (AFD, Proparco, EF) resulted in €1,178M in activities committed from delegating partners' funds, an increase since 2023, and €12bn in resources committed by the AFD Group (AFD, Proparco) and its partners in cofinancing. Regarding AFD and Proparco, there were around €730M in grants from delegated funds this year, including 56% from the EU, and 28% from the GCF (mainly on delegated loans) and the Global Partnership for Education. These two vertical funds currently contribute to the largest mobilisation, outside the EU, of external resources by AFD. In addition, in 2024, an exceptional €92M grant was made on funds obtained by AFD from USAID in 2018. This gap between receipt of funds and their granting was known in advance, as the project (desalination in Jordan) required numerous studies and preparatory work. Regarding Expertise France, contracts signed with the European Union amounted to €448.7 million in 2024. The European partners therefore remain the AFD Group’s main financial partners in terms of the mobilisation of financing delegated as grants (European Union) or cofunding (EIB, KfW).

The Group continued to strengthen its links with French and local civil society organisations. As part of the “CSO‑Initiatives” system ("Initiatives OSC" or "I‑OSC" in French), AFD financed 137 projects through 98 French CSOs and 17 local CSOs for a total amount of €154M (versus €163M in 2023). At the end of 2024, the portfolio of projects whose implementation is being monitored included 631 CSO projects for a total amount of €621M.

During 2024, the AFD Group (excluding EF) mobilised, all systems combined, more than €400M for CSOs. The Group organised consultations with CSOs as part of the drafting of the new AFD and CSOs 2024/2028 roadmap, and conferences on fair trade, on citizenship education and international solidarity (ECSI) in the framework of Festisol, on children, on human rights and on gender, and increased exchanges on structuring themes (climate, education, gender, biodiversity, health, sexual and reproductive health rights, youth and volunteering, HIV) and new or priority regions (Latin America, French Overseas Departments and Collectivities, the Balkans). The celebration of 15 years of the I‑CSO system, with our partners, was also a highlight of the year.

At the regional level, the AFD Group reinforced its already strong links with French players (companies, Équipe France, local authorities and public institutions) in order to promote and mobilise French expertise internationally to serve Supportive and Sustainable investment.

For the French private sector and Équipe France, 2024 was marked by greater collaboration and coordination between the AFD Group and the French ecosystem, in particular through the establishment of coordination committees for the seven strategic sectors under the aegis of the Directorate General of the Treasury (sustainable cities, health, agriculture, transport, digital technology, energy transition and CCI). Other actions with Équipe France (Business France, Bpifrance, etc.) were implemented in Paris and locally to improve the mutual understanding of our financing tools and their coordination (double‑stamp letter, mutual conferences, etc.). These forums are essential for understanding the existing and innovative French industrial offering that can be deployed in our areas of operation and may lead to the signing of partnership agreements, such as with SUEZ in 2024.

In addition, the relationships, already solidly established with French public institutions, intensified this year. A joint declaration was signed by around thirty public institutions during the AFD winter events to reaffirm the commitment of French public expertise at the service of international solidarity. In 2024, several partnership agreements were signed or renewed: with Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC), Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), Institut français (IF), Agence de la transition écologique (Ademe), the French agricultural research and international cooperation body (Cirad) as well as with Agence universitaire de la francophonie (AUF) and Senghor University during the francophonie summit.

Lastly, AFD also reinforced its support for the external actions of French local authorities through the Financing Facility for Local Authorities (Ficol), with €10M committed by AFD in 2024 (seven new projects).

At the European level, the European Commission, European bilateral players, the EIB and now the EBRD represent key AFD Group partners, notably in terms of cofunding. These stronger links enable AFD Group to build with the EU and its European partners (financial institutions as well as donor agencies), but also via networks (JEFIC  ⁽¹⁾, EDFI  ⁽²⁾ or the Practitioners’ Network) a genuine European aid architecture. This guarantees effectiveness, complementarity and political visibility to the “Team Europe” approach. In 2024, AFD Group mobilised nearly €82M from the European Commission: €30M in guarantees (Proparco), €160M in dry delegations, €449M for Expertise France (contracts signed), and €243M in blended European subsidies for 17 projects (these grants enabled the granting of €2.07bn in loans). In addition, AFD is actively contributing to the roll‑out of the new European strategy, Global Gateway. As part of this work, 13 of the 46 Global Gateway priority projects for 2025 are projects or programmes cofunded by AFD, making the AFD Group one of the largest financiers, alongside the EIB and the EBRD. AFD also maintained the level of its cofunding commitments with the EIB and KfW, in particular by using the MRI agreement (€1.665bn) and the most recent JEFIC (€296M).

The year in 2024 also saw AFD actively participate in high‑level European meetings (JEFIC High Level Meeting, Digital Energy Facility bootcamp, Hamburg Sustainability Conference HSC, resumption of high‑level dialogue with the EIB). In addition, as part of a partnership platform, AFD contributed to the NDICI  ⁽¹⁾ mid‑term review (47) and to European initiatives (EFSD+  ⁽²⁾ (48), Global Gateway) while positioning JEFIC, which it has chaired since July 2024, as an interlocutor of the European Commission (post‑2028 Multiannual Financial Framework advocacy, Ukraine, observer in several European bodies including the Business Advisory Group of the Global Gateway initiative).

At the international level, the Group continued its cooperation with multilateral and regional development banks: renewal of the cooperation memorandum and cofunding framework agreement with the World Bank Group signed in March 2024 (AFD is the Bank’s first bilateral cofunder with more than US$30bn co‑financed over the last 10 years); renewal of the framework agreement with the Inter‑American Development Bank; signature in December of the first framework agreement for cofunding with reciprocal delegation of tasks with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the first of its kind between a multilateral bank and a bilateral development bank.

At the same time, the Group strengthened its operational cooperation with the United Nations agencies: Fida (renewal of the cooperation memorandum and the financing framework agreement in November, Undesa (linking FICS to the work of the FFD4 conference scheduled in Seville in July 2025); for IOs (UN agencies and the ICRC) AFD disbursed a total of €53.75M without and €100.75M with the retrocession of the polio loan for Pakistan to the WHO (€50M). This amount includes various collaborations deployed on 21 projects with Fida, WFP, ILO, UN‑Women, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, ICRC and WHO.

Moreover, the AFD Group has significantly enhanced its strategic and operational dialogue with philanthropic foundations: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations

(implementation of the financial partnership for 2023‑2026 and new delegation for Pakistan (USD $20M), as well as the Rockefeller Foundation and other newly prospected foundations in the United States, Europe and Latin America. The partnership signed by AFD on the sidelines of the NFP Summit in June 2023 with GEAPP (“Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet”) initiated by three Rockefeller foundations, Ikea F. and Bezos Earth Fund, is being implemented in the field. It takes the form of operational country dialogues and financial commitments announced at the Energy Summit, organised in Tanzania in January 2025 by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, in relation to the Mission300 initiative launched by these two banks in April 2024 on access to electricity (with a view to giving access to over 300 million people in Africa by 2030). The Group is also developing its cooperation with donors in the Gulf, whether regional (Islamic Development Bank) or bilateral (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait).

Since AFD’s accreditation to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in 2015, the Group has succeeded in mobilising around €770M in delegated financing from the GCF, leveraging over €2.7bn in investments for the climate (seven projects and programmes approved, including five adaptation projects on grants (Senegal, Morocco, Palestine, Indian Ocean) and three large‑volume programmes (TFSC, PEEB Cool, E Motion) targeting several countries and financial instruments.

The partnership with the GPE (Global Partnership for Education) remains in force, with the renewal of mandates (Guinea) and the establishment of new mandates (DRC), while, in the Sahel, the outlook declined given the situation in Burkina Faso and Niger.

AFD and the GPE (Global Partnership for Education) continue to work together. As a partner agent of the GPE for certain countries since 2013, AFD manages the delegated funds in five countries (Senegal, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Niger, DRC), for a total cumulative amount of nearly €600M.

1.6.7         Intellectual production

1.6.7.1   Research, appraisal and publication activities

Research

In 2024, research activities were in line with the priorities of the research, innovation and knowledge strategy for the 2019‑2023 period. They focused on exploring in greater detail the interactions among the various pillars of sustainable development around the notion of strong sustainability and five signature programmes: ecological transitions, macroeconomic analyses, inequalities, shared assets and the Sahel. Developing partnerships with local actors by strengthening the degree of involvement of research institutions from AFD’s regions of operation as well as strengthening the link between research work and the formulation of public policies also guided the research activities conducted.

Thus, the development of methodological tools aimed at informing public policy dialogues on the sustainable development trajectories of the AFD Group’s countries of operation continued. These include the GEMMES ⁽³⁾ and ESTEEM ⁽⁴⁾ tools for modelling the macroeconomic impacts of climate change, tools for diagnosing multidimensional inequalities or analysing fiscal impact, ESGAP or ENCA tools for assessing the issues in relation to the preservation of natural capital, and the shared assets approach. At the same time, the structuring of integrated dialogue approaches was further developed in Colombia and Vietnam, the latter country now having an active strategic dialogue memorandum, fuelled by research. In this respect, it joins Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco and Tunisia. Dialogues on the fair transition and net‑zero trajectories are also taking place in South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Senegal and Brazil. Similar exercises were conducted in 2024 in Indonesia and Rwanda, where research‑informed public policy dialogues will begin in early 2025.

AFD’s research on the ecological transitions (climate/biodiversity) theme focuses on an analysis of the interactions between economic development/prosperity on the one hand, and the environment on the other, with the introduction of tools for the measurement and the quantification of these interactions. The work undertaken on financial climate risks was finalised in 2024 for Colombia and Indonesia, and further developed for Ghana. With regard to adapting to climate change, the work focuses on small insular states and the development of weather and climate services with the aim of reducing the risk of natural disasters. The programme to model the nitrogen cycle in view of an agro‑ecological transition in Africa provided initial analyses at the continental level and made it possible to consider country analyses for at least five regions in 2025. The biodiversity research and knowledge programme, which aims to promote the development of a pro‑nature economy based on research findings, continued to be promoted and capitalised on. Work on the assessment of financial risks related to biodiversity was further developed and supplemented by a study on the use of biodiversity metrics to enable public development banks to assess the impacts and dependencies of their project portfolios on biodiversity. Methodological changes for the strong environmental sustainability indicator, ESGAP, were produced as part of studies on Vietnam, Colombia and South Africa, and the tool was adapted on an oceanic scope, the Blue ESGAP, which was launched to provide support for the reflections on ocean accounting in South East Asia. AFD continued to develop GEMMES macroeconomic models, with six existing models (Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Colombia, Vietnam, Tunisia and Morocco) and a model under construction in Mexico. The ESTEEM model, which analyses macro‑structural vulnerabilities related to the low‑carbon transition, for its part, has been deployed in five countries (Uzbekistan, Bolivia, Armenia, Cambodia and Vietnam) and will soon be deployed in Indonesia and Rwanda. It assesses the transition risk associated with the decline of the emissive sectors in terms of external revenues, budgetary revenues and income and employment.

For social cohesion/the social link and human development, work focuses on four main themes: inequalities, social protection – notably through integration into the labour market – training/employment match and demographic transition insisting on gender. This work falls within the prospect of fair transition, by studying the different aspects of sustainable structural change induced by development. The studies carried out propose recommendations on public policies. Initiatives to deepen public policy dialogue on inequalities with a fair transition approach were continued in Indonesia, Colombia, South Africa and Mexico under the Coordinated Inequalities Facility and implemented by AFD since 2017 under delegation of funds from the European Commission. This work makes it possible to better understand the issue of green jobs in the context of the energy transition. Since 2023, they have been supplemented by a series of studies aimed at exploring the "fair" dimension of the energy transition in Vietnam. In 2024, the Inequalities programme was particularly productive with the publication, in an AFD‑World Bank co‑edition, of a collective work on Inequalities in Africa. The work on ageing in Africa is being promoted and will be supplemented by a study on the same topic in the Balkans that was launched in 2024. The study on the match between skills and jobs in secondary cities in Côte d'Ivoire generated initial results.

On the Governance, Shared Assets and Regions theme, AFD focuses its work on several themes: (i) the sector deployment of the shared assets approach (medicine, water, oceans and biodiversity, urban and rural land, access to energy), (ii) the analysis of their economic model and relationship with States, notably in a context of fragility, but also from the perspective of a public‑community partnership, (iii) the study of how public policies are made in Africa, (iv) issues of security‑development, notably in the Sahel, and (v) issues in terms of governance and the implementation of environmental and climate transitions. In 2024, the Shared Assets programme focused on the implementation of three new programmes exploring the link between shared assets and citizen participation in Colombia and Brazil. Discussions on the link between the preservation of natural resources, protected areas and conflicts continued with the launch of a study on the Togo‑Benin border area. Border areas will also be explored as part of a study on the aspirations of young people in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire. Work on the concept of the resilience of small island States in French Polynesia was finalised. The question of the population’s perception of adaptation issues and solutions and the contribution of serious games to building a new social contract adapted to the realities of transitions are the subject of discussions and exchanges with the academic community. A first serious game based on the GEMMES model in Colombia was developed and tested. The programme on cultural and creative industries in Africa was enhanced and supplemented by the launch of a study on the restitution of works in Benin.

Priority is given to work on Africa, with a specific focus on West Africa. The research and capacity‑building programmes financed by the “Savoirs Sahel 2” project could, for the most part, be continued and developed through changes in the geographical scope. The themes of regional governance and local legitimacy, the resilience of agro‑pastoral systems to climate constraints, the social inclusion of young people, and the delivery of public services and mediation are at the heart of the development issues addressed in this work. The capacity building activities of research institutions and think tanks in French‑speaking and Sahelian Africa funded by the “Savoirs Sahel 2” programme and the PCDI (Pôle Clermontois de Développement International) actively contribute to AFD's research support activities in the South. Moreover, in addition to the publication on Inequalities in Africa, in January 2024 AFD published the fifth annual edition of the series on African economies launched in 2020, published by Repères La Découverte.

Finally, the research programme dedicated to public development banks as key players in achieving the sustainable development goals was further strengthened in 2024 to feed into the discussions of the Finance In Common Summit (FICS). The update of the database listing public development banks (PDBs) around the world initiated in 2019 with Peking University is continuing. It makes it possible to map the public policy objectives that its 526 PDBs pursue. In 2024, the Global Research Network on PDBs (GRN), which aims to pursue the production of original work, and to promote peer reviews, publications in peer‑reviewed economic journals and the dissemination of research findings among policy makers and development bank managers, was structured. More specifically, this network is working on five themes: PDBs in the international financial architecture, private sector mobilisation, climate and biodiversity, social responsibility of PDBs, and analysis of structured data on PDBs. The work produced to date made it possible to compile, in 2024, a first book dedicated to PBDs, the “PDB Handbook” structured in 80 thematic sheets. Finally, AFD has developed the “SDG Prospector”, a tool using artificial intelligence to comprehensively map the way in which BPDs integrate the SDGs into their strategic narrative. The prospector is available online for all types of users.

In 2024, AFD’s research activity was also promoted at major international meetings, such as the COP biodiversity in Cali or the COP 29 in Baku. AFD’s international research conference, organised every two years, was also held in December 2024 and explored the links between research and public action around four themes: financial risks related to nature, public services beyond the State, the notion of the alignment of finance, and the fair dimension of transitions. Discussions on how to structure future multi‑disciplinary research programmes continued, whether in relation to sustainable finance and financing for sustainable development, industrialisation and environmental transitions, or multidimensional vulnerabilities.

The coordination of the research dynamics led by AFD involves the multiplication of exchanges with academic communities. To this end, two teacher‑researchers have been identified to carry out a delegated assignment at AFD in 2025, two visiting researchers are also expected in 2025, and the selection of four new CIFRE fellows has been launched.

In support of the Agency’s operations and risk management, fourteen macroeconomic analysis missions were carried out in 2024. These diagnostics focused primarily on (i) regions where AFD’s exposure is significant or historical (China, Colombia, Senegal, Tanzania), (ii) regions undergoing changes or turnarounds (Iraq) and (iii) regions where a macroeconomic framework is useful for the establishment of an AFD intervention strategy, the monitoring of risks, or the ramp‑up of operations (Benin, Cuba, Guinea, Madagascar, Moldova, Mozambique, Namibia, Uganda and Togo). These assignments covered 17.6% of the Group’s outstanding loans in foreign countries (measured at 30 June 2024). The missions initially planned in Egypt (since 2023), Madagascar, Brazil and Mexico could not be carried out for reasons of organisation or local context and will be carried out in 2025.

Assessments

AFD conducts assessments of the projects and programmes it finances and also produces extensive evaluations of its sectoral or cross‑sector strategies (set out in its intervention frameworks), on specific topics, countries and/or funding instruments. All large‑scale and joint evaluations are published and the project/programme evaluation summary sheets are published on the AFD website ⁽¹⁾ and the evaluation open data site ⁽²⁾ where 378 evaluated projects have been placed online. In 2024, AFD evaluated 72 projects through 52 assessments.

In 2013, AFD adopted a first assessment policy. An independent appraisal of this assessment policy was carried out and published in September 2021 ⁽³⁾. AFD then launched a participatory process, spanning over one year and bringing together the various Group entities and the administrations concerned, to develop a new policy, now extended to the Group

1) https://www.afd.fr/fr/page‑programme‑de‑recherche/les‑evaluations 2) https://opendata.afd.fr/pages/evaluations/?stage_theme=true

and which was presented to AFD's Board of Directors in March 2024. This monitoring and evaluation policy for the Group reminds us that the appraisal meets the requirements of decision support, learning and accountability. It aims to improve strategies, programmes and projects and ultimately development results through lessons learned. It contributes to the production of knowledge to inform decision‑making within the Group but also contributes to the external knowledge capital by contributing to the debate on development and international solidarity issues. The appraisal contributes to AFD’s responsibility to report on the interventions it finances to the French State, its partners, the various development and international solidarity players in France and abroad, as well as French citizens.

The AFD Group subscribes to the principles of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) for the assessment of development, and the appraisal work carried out is consistent with the criteria defined by the DAC.

AFD also conducts joint assessments with the other departments responsible for evaluating France's development assistance programmes, at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty (MEFSIN).

Publications

In 2024, Éditions AFD published 120 titles, more than in 2023 (91 titles): 117 titles in its own collections, two co‑published with the World Bank, and one co‑published with La Découverte. In 2024, the QDD (Question de Développement) short format collection exceeded research papers for the first time with 38 publications compared to 33 for research papers. These two collections remain the most productive. In comparison to 2023, the number of research papers decreased slightly from 39 in 2023 to 33 in 2024, while the QDD production increased considerably from 10 in 2023 to 38 in 2024. MacroDevs (publications relating to development macroeconomics) decreased, with productivity dropping from 15 in 2023 to 11 in 2024. The number of policy briefs presenting public policy recommendations decreased from 6 to 4, unlike policy papers (long format of the policy brief), the number of which increased from 3 in 2023 to 7 in 2024.

Over 1,400 downloadable titles are available in the Éditions AFD catalogue. These publications are disseminated externally via the AFD website, while part of the catalogue is also available on the CAIRN portal. Likewise, most of them are accessible and referenced on various databases such as Ideas/RePEc and Google Scholar.

The promotion of publications is based on several channels, notably the dedicated newsletter “Études et savoirs” (which has more than 30,000 subscribers for the French‑language version and approximately 8,000 subscribers for the English‑language version), the use of varied formats (“Grandes Lignes” podcast now available on YouTube with the number of views exceeding, on average, several tens of thousands of views; videos and motion design, computer graphics, etc.) as well as the organisation of events around publications.

3) https://www.afd.fr/fr/ressources/evaluation‑de‑la‑politique‑devaluation‑de‑lafd

M the maintenance of flagship courses, aiming to continue the dynamics launched by the Africa 2020 Season and the NSAF (dialogue, reflexivity, co‑construction, development of networks, facilitation of communities, outlook and stories): new seasons of courses at Académie des Talents Méditerranéens, the Social Inclusive Business Camp (in North Africa), the Biodiversity Partnership programme (in Southern and North Africa), as well as the Master’s in Development Project Management (with FERDI and the

      University of Clermont‑Ferrand),                                                 

M a wider dissemination of collective and creative intelligence skills within the Group and among its partners with the launch of the “Collective Intelligence Factory”: new dedicated training courses, strengthening of the coordination of certain strategic communities,

M the development of new multimedia content with a new season of the “les nouvelles de demain” podcast and various capsules connecting thinkers from the North and the South and increasing the notoriety of the online educational resource portal.

2.1     The business model 2.2      Identification of the main non‑financial issues and risks 2.3        Managing the risks and impacts of our action

2.3.1 AFD’s management of environmental and social risks, and the procedure for managing complaints

2.3.2   Proparco’s management of environmental and social risks, and the procedure for managing complaints

2.3.3   Human rights due diligence and promotion of the human rights‑based approach

2.4 Contribution of the Group’s activity to sustainable development

     2.4.1     Impacts of AFD’s activity

     2.4.2     Impacts of Proparco’s activity

     2.4.3      Impacts of Expertise France's activity

2.4.4   Impact of the Group’s activity on climate change and biodiversity

2.4.5   Impacts related to the Group’s activity in strengthening the social link

2.4.6   Reinforcing the social and environmental impact of AFD Group purchases

2.5     Transparency and dialogue with stakeholders

     2.5.1     Transparency of financing

     2.5.2     Dialogue with stakeholders

2.6    Coordination with development actors: partnership by design

2.6.1   The partnership approach: working with others for greater impact

2.6.2   Support for project management and capacity building

2.6.3      Contributing to the Development‑Defence link

2.7       Fair practices

2.7.1 Initiatives to prevent corruption, fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing and tax evasion

2.7.2      Checks made during a project's life cycle

2.7.3     Third‑party commitments

2.7.4       Systems for reporting reprehensible practices

2.7.5       Training of Group employees and representatives

2.7.6     Measures taken to prevent tax evasion

2.7.7   Transparency of relations with French and European parliamentarians

2.8        A meaningful work environment

2.8.1     Skills development, employability, training

2.8.2      Social dialogue and employee relations

2.8.3      Promotion of professional equality and diversity

2.8.4           Quality of employee working conditions and safety

2.8.5      The ethics system and mediation

2.9    Report of one of the Statutory Auditors, appointed as an independent third party, on the verification of the consolidated nonfinancial statement

Background

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group has been established since 1 January 2022, notably by its three main entities – Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Proparco and Expertise France (EF). It finances and supports transitions in all the regions where it works towards a more just and sustainable world. It implements the priorities defined by the government in the field of development policy, in accordance with France’s international commitments, within the reference framework set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ⁽¹⁾ and by the Paris Agreement. The No. 2021‑1031 law of 4 August 2021 on the programming relating to solidarity development and the fight against global inequalities sets its major objectives, specified by the Presidential Development Council (PCD), the Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development (CICID) and the Interministerial Committee for French Overseas Departments and Collectivities (CIOM) in 2023.

The highlights of the Group’s activities in 2024 were as follows:

M in December 2024, AFD Group adopted its 5^th Strategic Orientation Plan (POS V) for the 2025‑2030 period. The major guidelines defined aim to combat both poverty and inequalities throughout the world, and to promote solidarity‑based investments guaranteeing the preservation of global public goods;

M This new strategy seeks to consolidate and amplify the results and achievements of the 4^th strategic plan and has several objectives: to propose a more efficient and simplified architecture, to adapt the Group’s posture and positioning in a changing world, while strengthening its capabilities and its joint impact to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The strategy is based on four key commitments:

a.   “AFD by its partners' side”: improve the understanding of the complex environments and evolving needs of partners by mobilising geographical and contextual intelligence to adapt

AFD Group’s offerings;

b.   100% SDG: become the first public development bank to align all of its financing, operations and management with the 2030 Agenda. This includes maximising positive impacts on climate and biodiversity, reducing inequalities and multidimensional vulnerabilities, as well as backing institutional, democratic and citizenship development;

c.   Mobilisation Platform: mobilise international and local financial resources, knowledge and citizen commitment to establish partnerships with local, French, European and international players committed to the achievement of the SDGs;

d.   Delivering on AFD Group’s Promise: reinforcing synergies among AFD’s public sector activities, Proparco’s private sector focus and Expertise France’s technical cooperation, while leveraging the Group’s training capabilities, research and innovation.

The key items of 2024 were as follows

M Following the adoption of the European Corporate Social Responsibility Directive (CSRD), AFD Group initiated a process of compliance with the text that aims for transparency on ESG data and the integration of sustainability at the heart of the Group’s strategy. AFD is keeping a close eye on regulatory developments and notably on the European Commission's proposed Omnibus package. The Group also plans to renew its transparency policy and update its open data site to extend and improve access to its public data,

M The amount of AFD commitments in 2024⁽²⁾ was down slightly compared to 2023. Their geographical distribution was characterised by a growth in activity in Africa, which amounted to nearly €3.9bn, up €220M compared to 2023 (i.e. 38% of AFD’s business plan). Conversely, activity in the Orients region fell to €2.8bn, down €360M (i.e. 28% of the AFD business plan), under the combined effect of competitiveness difficulties and constraints related to the level of indebtedness in certain countries,

M AFD’s activity in the Three Oceans increased slightly, to

€1.6bn (i.e. 16% of AFD’s commitments), including nearly €1bn dedicated to financing in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities. In Latin America, where it amounted to €1.6bn, it was also stable and based on a limited number of countries, due to tensions over economic and political situations and the implementation of the sustainable debt doctrine,

M For Proparco, in 2024, activity in Africa represented 40% in terms of volume and half of the projects. Activity increased in Turkey and Central Asia (24%). Latin America represented 20%, while South Asia and South East Asia (10%) and the Middle East were down in relative terms,

M Expertise France's activity – although part of a dynamic of operational development towards new regions (Americas, Indo‑Pacific region, Balkans) – remained heavily concentrated on the African continent. 50% of the Agency’s turnover is generated directly in African countries and the majority of multi‑zone projects concern Africa. The breakdown of turnover in 2024 thus confirms the alignment of the Agency with the geographical priorities of French aid,

M Climate financing in 2024 amounted to €7.7bn in foreign States and the French Overseas Departments and

Collectivities. In foreign States, AFD and Proparco approved 343 climate projects, for a total amount of €7.4bn in financing, i.e. 61% of its commitments (in foreign States). The Group therefore exceeded the 50% target adopted in 2012 and renewed in its Climate and Development strategy,

M The share of AFD’s commitments whose main or secondary objective is to promote gender equality (volumes marked CAD1 and CAD2 ⁽¹⁾) reached 61% (€5.6bn), thus making a positive contribution to the goal set by the 2021 development law on French bilateral programmable ODA marked CAD1 or CAD2. This significant increase compared to 2023 (51% of commitments) reflects the efforts made by AFD to systematically integrate the gender dimension into its operations,

M In 2024, the amount of bonds issued with the SDG label represented €4.43bn.

AFD Group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) in 2024

 AFD Group is committed to adopting best practices in its activities. For over 20 years, its approach to corporate social responsibility has been compliant with the social, environmental and ethical requirements, respect for human rights, the fight against corruption, transparency. It has allowed the groupe to structure its practices, thus positioning itself among the players with the highest ratings by non‑financial rating agencies. The alignment between the Group’s missions, its corporate social responsibility policy and the pursuit of excellence in terms of non‑financial performance was once again recognised in 2023: with a rating of 74/100, AFD is positioned first ex aequo in its peer group (Specific purpose banks and agencies in Europe) as rated by Moody's Analytics, one of the main non‑financial rating agencies. In addition, AFD obtained an AAA rating in the last MSCI rating report, in February 2023.

AFD Group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy covers the 2018‑2022 period, and was extended in 2023 and 2024. The priorities of the new 2025‑2030 social responsibility policy have been fully integrated, and stem from the Group’s new Strategic Orientation Plan (2025‑2030) validated in December 2024.

In 2024, the CSR policy covered all of the Group’s sustainable development issues, whether in relation to the projects financed or its internal operations. It reinforces the consistency between the Group’s missions and the quality of its work, and thus promotes internal cohesion.

It is based on six commitments:

AFD Group’s corporate social responsibility approach is led by a team attached to the department in charge of strategy. This is supported by a network of CSR focal persons within the departments responsible for implementing the various areas of the corporate social responsibility policy, namely a representative of the environmental and social support, strategy, risks, human resources, general secretariat, purchasing, finance and assessment teams, the corporate project as well as Proparco and Expertise France. This network is thus involved in managing the social responsibility approach (in particular the co‑construction and implementation of the annual action plan), its accountability, as well as communication and staff awareness‑raising actions.

Across the Group's three entities, expert teams provide cross‑functional support to integrate sustainable development into operations on topics such as climate, gender, environmental and social risk management, intervention in countries in crisis and conflicts, capacity building of clients and partners, or as part of the analysis of the contribution to the sustainable development of projects. The CSR approach also relies on a sponsor in the person of the Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of the Group’s operations.

1) OECD temporary archive ˗ DAC gender equality policy marker: Projects/programmes marked “CAD1 significant objective” or “CAD2 principal objective” are counted by the CAD as aid directed towards gender equality.

The business model

Preparation of the Statement of Non‑Financial Performance

      2.1      The business model

AFD’s business model is detailed in Chapter 1.

       2.2          Identification of the main non‑financial issues and risks

1)    Order No. 2017‑1180 of 19 July 2017 on the publication of non‑financial information by certain large companies and groups of companies and Decree No. 2017‑1265 of 9 August 2017 issued for the application of said order.

2)    See the AFD Group stakeholder mapping, updated in 2022, in Appendix 10.

3)    See the AFD Group materiality matrix, updated in 2022, in Appendix 10.

4)    For the rating of the issues, 192 people (including 118 external) responded to a dedicated questionnaire, representing all the stakeholder groups identified.

Identification of the main non‑financial issues and risks

(1) A table showing in which paragraph of the SNFP each issue appears is available in Appendix 10.

      2.3        Managing the risks and impacts of our action

2.3.1 AFD’s management of environmental and social risks, and the procedure for managing complaints 2.3.1.1 AFD’s management of environmental and social risks

1) This policy was adopted by AFD’s Board of Directors in July 2017; it is available on the AFD website: https://www.afd.fr/en/ressources/ environmental‑and‑social‑risk‑management‑policy‑afd‑funded‑operations. An internal audit was conducted in 2024 to take stock of its implementation and identify points requiring updating, creation, or even deletion. An update of this policy will be carried out in 2025.

TEnvironmental and social risks in AFD’s portfolio in 2024, by number of projects and amounts awarded (in foreign States)

                                     Breakdown by number of projects granted                                                              Breakdown by amounts granted

                                Number                                                2023 as                                                 Amounts granted                                                2023 as

E&S risk                        of projects                             in %  a reminder               % in 2023         (in millions of euros)                              in %  a reminder               % in 2023

The change compared to year N‑1 reflects the annual changes in the composition of the portfolio of projects granted.

The E&S rankings established at the identification stage, as detailed previously, are based on an analysis of the significance of the potential negative E&S impacts of the projects, i.e. the impacts that would appear in the absence of mitigation measures (avoidance, reduction or offsetting measures of the so‑called “ARO” approach).

The latter are defined as part of the studies of potential negative E&S impacts in order to control the E&S risks of projects. During project implementation and after establishing mitigation measures, residual negative E&S impacts may remain which it is therefore important to monitor, the nature and magnitude of which may vary depending on the different phases of the project (preparation, construction, operation, etc.).

M the magnitude of the E&S impacts, taking into account the progress of the project;

M the quality of the project’s environmental and social management and compliance with the E&S commitments made by the beneficiary through the financing agreement;

M the sensitivity of the context; M the occurrence of major E&S events.

Projects may now be classified according to six levels, based on the importance of their residual E&S risks: M project on alert requiring specific monitoring;

M sensitive project requiring increased monitoring;

M project requiring ongoing monitoring;

M project requiring basic monitoring (or no monitoring);

M project for which E&S monitoring is suspended;

M project for which E&S monitoring has been completed.

This analysis not only makes it possible to have an overview of the quality of the portfolio at a given time, but also to define specific and proportionate E&S monitoring programmes for each level of risk, and thus to focus on the riskiest projects.

An analysis of the portfolio’s residual E&S risks carried out in 2024 addressed projects classified as A and B+, granted between 2016 and 2023, and in progress (projects not cancelled, for which an agreement has been signed before 31 March 2024 but not completed) which amounted to a total of 305 projects.

The level of E&S monitoring to be implemented was thus determined for each of these 305 projects. The breakdown by level of monitoring is as follows:

TBreakdown of the levels of environmental and social monitoring of the portfolio of ongoing A and B+ projects granted over the 2016‑2024 period, by number of projects and by amounts (in millions of euros)

                                                                                                               Number                                                                               Amounts

        Level of E&S monitoring                                                                                                 of projects                                in %               (in millions of euros)                                 in %

*  Complaints undergoing registration analysis, eligibility review or being processed (complaints deemed eligible are processed through mediation and/or a compliance audit).

1) Environmental and social complaints management system – 2021 activity report | AFD – Agence Française de Développement

2.3.2       Proparco’s management of environmental and social risks, and the procedure for managing complaints

2.3.2.1        Management of Proparco’s environmental and social risks (1)

The approach, which is similar to AFD's and in line with the practices of international financial institutions, is based on the performance standards of the International Finance

Corporation (IFC) ⁽²⁾, the standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO) ⁽³⁾, the land tenure guidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) ⁽⁴⁾, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) ⁽⁵⁾ and the resources of the Corporate Governance Development Framework (CGDF) ⁽⁶⁾.

E&S due diligence is carried out by Proparco for each operation.

Its objectives are (i) to determine the extent and severity of the

E&S risks of the operation, (ii) to analyse the ability of the financed/invested company to duly manage these risks within a reasonable timeframe, and (iii) to define, where applicable, the actions required to eliminate, reduce or offset these risks and impacts for the most risky projects. The financing or investment decision is based notably on these procedures.

An E&S ranking makes it possible, during the identification phase, to determine the level of potential E&S risks of the activities financed (directly or by a financial intermediary). This classification ranges from "A" (high risk) to "C" (low risk) – to which is added the prefix FI for financial intermediaries. It does not change over time (unless there is a substantial change in activity during the project) and does not take into account the client company’s ability to manage these risks (management systems and performance) ⁽⁷⁾. The classification defines the principles and methods of intervention of the ESG division. The higher the level of risk estimated, the greater the E&S appraisal effort.

In the case of projects presenting significant levels of risk and for which the involvement of a Proparco E&S specialist is deemed necessary at the signature stage or during the life of a project, monitoring of the evolution of E&S performance is carried out. This monitoring takes the form of the evaluation of four annual E&S indicators, determined on the basis of assignments, discussions with the client or documentary reviews. These indicators are (i) the E&S management system (measures the maturity of all E&S risk management processes), (ii) the E&S organisation (the client’s resources and capabilities to manage E&S risks), (iii) E&S performance (changes in the due application of the E&S standards selected), and (iv) residual risk (assessment of the E&S risk to date by integrating the other indicators). In addition, concrete improvement actions are defined with the beneficiaries of the financing and grouped in an environmental and social action plan which is included in the contractual documentation. The implementation of these improvement action plans is monitored by the ESG team.

The two tables below present the classification of the potential

E&S risk of projects signed in 2023 and 2024 according to their number (note: a project can be linked to several financings) and their amount. The tables also provide a comparison for information with all the projects in Proparco’s portfolio.

TEnvironmental and social classification of Proparco projects signed in 2024 and of the portfolio, in terms of numbers.

                                                                                                                     % of Proparco             As a reminder, figure from the last report

                                                                 Number                                                      portfolio projects            Number of projects                          % of projects

E&S classification                                                       of projects             % of projects                as at 31/12/2024                      signed in 2023                     signed in 2023

1)    Including Fisea.

2)    IFC PS: Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability | International Finance Corporation (IFC).

3)    ILO standards: labour standards (ilo.org).

4)    VGGT: Voluntary Guidelines on Tenure | Governance of Tenure | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (fao.org).

5)    UNGPs: guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdf (ohchr.org).

6)    CGDF: Home page – CG Development Framework.

7)    Only clients requiring specific E&S monitoring are subject to an E&S performance assessment based on their E&S organisation, their E&S management system and their level of compliance with IFC standards and Proparco requirements.

TEnvironmental and social classification of Proparco projects signed in 2024, in terms of amounts

As a reminder, figure from the last report

         E&S classification                                                                                                  Amount                            Percentage                                    Amount                              Percentage

Each operation is also subject to a “Governance review”. Depending on its complexity, a governance specialist is involved. It makes it possible to determine, where applicable, the methods for improving governance (formalised in a governance action plan included in the contractual documentation) and any possible need for associated technical support. These commitments and support are then monitored annually to verify their effective implementation.

2.3.2.2              Proparco system for processing complaints

Since 2019, Proparco has had an environmental and social complaints processing system that gives any person or group of people who feel adversely affected by the environmental or social aspects of a project financed by Proparco the opportunity to file a complaint and be heard by independent experts ⁽¹⁾.

This is an initiative by Proparco and its German and Dutch counterparts, DEG – the German private sector bilateral development bank, member of the KfW group – and FMO – the Dutch private sector bilateral development bank.

If the complaint does indeed concern a project funded by Proparco, if it does not correspond to one of the exclusion cases specified in the system’s documentation, and if the complaint file is complete (containing all information required as detailed on the Proparco website), it is sent to a panel of independent experts who first of all give a ruling on its eligibility, in compliance with the system’s regulations.

Once a complaint has been declared eligible, two processing methods, which can be combined, are offered:

M a compliance audit, in which the panel of independent experts examines whether the project financing was implemented in accordance with the applicable rules in terms of compliance and Proparco’s internal policies;

M reconciliation, aiming for the out‑of‑court settlement of a dispute between the complainant and the recipient of the funding. Proparco then offers mediation services, but is not involved in the mediation process.

The process is considered to be complete when an agreement is reached between the parties when resolving a dispute, or when establishing final recommendations by the expert panel in the case of a compliance audit. An action plan is then proposed, the implementation of which is monitored by the complaints office and the expert panel.

The system received a complaint in 2024. It was not declared eligible for the following reasons, in accordance with the mechanism’s policy:

M the complaint did not fall within the scope of the ICM policy since the mechanism does not deal with issues relating to intellectual property rights.

The complaint was closed.

One complaint was declared admissible by the panel in July 2021. Mediation between the various stakeholders is ongoing, with the support of the panel of experts.

1) Independent mechanism for processing environmental and social complaints:

2.3.3                    Human rights due diligence and promotion of the human rights‑based approach

2.3.3.1       AFD’s human rights due diligence

 AFD Group operates in countries where human rights are not always fully respected, even if these countries formally adhere to treaties and conventions governed by international human rights law.

The mandatory due diligence in the field of operations includes the assessment of the social risks of the projects financed. The issue of applying international human rights standards is thus constantly on the agenda and integrated into the ex ante analysis and implementation of all projects, whatever the shape or form.

To this end, AFD Group relies on the performance standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) ⁽¹⁾, on the environmental and social standards and the environmental, health and safety directives of the World Bank, as well as on the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) ⁽²⁾. The human rights issues covered by these standards enable us to address matters related to:

M workers’ rights, namely working and employment conditions, and the protection of the workforce (and notably against forced labour or child labour, discrimination, etc.);

M the rights of communities, in particular the health and safety of communities potentially affected by projects (and notably potential violence against these communities); land acquisition and involuntary resettlement (notably to avoid forced evictions);

M the rights of indigenous populations;

M environmental rights, in particular concerning the preservation of ecosystems, the prevention of pollution, etc.

Where applicable, the implementation of these standards is accompanied by the establishment, by project managers, of mechanisms to manage complaints at project level, making it possible to collect and process potential complaints from people affected by these projects. The financing agreements signed with recipients must necessarily mention the commitments made by counterparties to respect the rights of individuals potentially affected, and reiterate the compliance with the ILO’s fundamental conventions in such a manner as to make them legally binding.

Following the adoption of the French “Human rights and development” strategy and the associated action plan for the period 2020‑2024, which encouraged it, the Group is working to gradually integrate the human rights‑based approach (HRBA) into its activities. This approach is based on both a risk reduction approach with the objective of doing no harm, and a more proactive approach so that projects directly contribute to the realisation of human rights. Since the adoption of the

1)    International Finance Corporation, https://www.ifc.org/fr/home

2)    International Labour Organization, https://www.ilo.org/

programming law of 4 August 2021, this is now an explicit mandate for the Group. As a result, several projects have been launched since 2021 to strengthen the capacities of the Group’s employees, establish partnerships with other development players to promote this approach and share best practices, and finally to support the production of knowledge regarding the concrete operating methods.

As of 2021, AFD has thus developed an internal digital training cycle that consists of five modules entirely dedicated to the theme of “Human rights and development” and the HRBA in cooperation projects. In 2024, AFD designed a Human Rights and Sustainable Development MOOC (11 thematic modules) to provide training on a large scale – internal and external – to AFD’s employees and partners.

Lastly, since 2023, the theme has been included in AFD Group Campus Modev Master’s programme, intended for AFD’s partner project managers (one full day of face‑to‑face training).

Since 2021, AFD has also provided a new operational environmental and social risk management training offering. This programme, consisting of thirteen modules offered as asynchronous e‑learning or in the form of virtual classes, has been gradually made available (eight modules were already available in 2024). Twelve modules are intended for AFD’s operational staff at the head office and throughout the offices abroad, and one module is intended for development project managers. All modules are accessible remotely for employees working in the network.

The Group has also developed a partnership approach with various development players to promote the integration of HRBA and share best practices regarding its concrete operating methods.

Moreover, a partnership between the Danish Institute for Human Rights and AFD has made it possible to make progress on the challenges of accountability in terms of the human rights‑based approach. A comparative study of HRBA measurement practices was carried out and published in 2023 (European Union and bilateral cooperation agreements of Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland). It made it possible to design, in an inclusive way, a new methodology for measuring HRBA. This methodology is comparable to a marker, but can also be used differently for the gradual integration of HRBA into the portfolios of activities of development actors. In line with this partnership, work was carried out in 2024 and resulted in the production of two analysis tools on the climate and human rights issues (published and online in January 2025).

Lastly, 2024 saw the publication of a collective work on the rights of nature ⁽¹⁾ and several research papers highlighting the continuum between human rights, the right to a healthy environment and the rights of nature.

Expertise France, for its part, developed a service offering on migration, based on human rights in accordance with the French strategy published in 2019, under the following title “Human rights and development: an approach to development cooperation based on human rights”. Faced with the reality of migration flows and the complexity of the associated issues, Expertise France implements projects aimed at: M promoting safe, orderly and regular migration;

M operationalising the “triple win” approach for migration to the benefit of the migrant, the country of origin and the host country.

Particular attention is paid to the fight against trafficking, and to ensuring protection and respect for the rights and dignity of migrants.

2.3.3.2       Proparco human rights due diligence

In 2024, a Human Rights working group was created at Proparco, the purpose of which is to implement the Proparco roadmap on human rights risks drawn up in 2023 for the next two years. Actions were defined to better integrate the human rights‑based approach into Proparco’s activities.

In particular, in 2024, Proparco launched a pilot study on human rights risks for a sector of intervention, initiated a more sustained dialogue on human rights with its external stakeholders, and its customers in particular, rolled out internal training on the subject, and strengthened its E&S contextual analysis.

The ESG approach established since 2012 and regularly reviewed, as well as the regular reinforcement of the team of ESG experts, enables Proparco like many other financial stakeholders to take into account (assess, mitigate, monitor) a number of human rights risks in its operations.

The financing agreements signed with our clients must necessarily mention the commitments made by counterparties to respect the rights of individuals potentially affected, and reiterate the compliance with the ILO’s fundamental conventions in such a manner as to make them legally binding. In this respect, Proparco endeavours to analyse issues related to:

M workers’ rights, namely working and employment conditions, and the protection of the workforce (and notably against forced labour or child labour, discrimination, etc.) including in the primary value chain;

M the rights of communities, in particular the health and safety of communities potentially affected by projects (and notably potential violence against these communities); land acquisition and population displacements (notably to avoid forced evictions);

M the rights of indigenous populations and vulnerable minorities; and

M environmental rights, in particular concerning the preservation of ecosystems, the prevention of pollution, etc.

In order to encourage more financial players to take into account respect for human rights and manage the risks that may result from their actions, Proparco is actively working with EDFI ⁽²⁾ peers to develop standardised operational tools.

Moreover, in collaboration with a group of development financial institutions, Proparco is continuing its commitment to developing a better understanding of the risks of human rights violations in the supply chains of renewable energy projects, in particular solar projects. The goal is to develop appropriate and harmonised risk assessment tools within the EDFI community. In 2024, operations involving the supply of photovoltaic panels were subject to enhanced human rights procedures.

For AFD Group, the integration of human rights issues is an ongoing process of learning and sharing best practices through exchanges with civil society networks, through participation in the working groups of bilateral and multilateral partners dedicated to the subject, and through exchanges within the

Group that make it possible to develop employees’ knowledge of the subject and improve due diligence practices.

1)    On the AFD website: https://www.afd.fr/fr/ressources/le‑nexus‑droits‑humains‑et‑droits‑de‑la‑nature‑debats‑tensions‑et‑complementarites

2)    Created in 1992, the Association of European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) has 15 members dedicated to financing the private sector in emerging and developing countries.

2.4    Contribution of the Group’s activity to sustainable development

1) https://www.afd.fr/fr/ressources/plan‑dorientation‑strategique‑2018‑2022

       2.4.1        Impacts of AFD’s activity

AFD finances and supports development projects and programmes that contribute to the direct and indirect creation of jobs and to regional development in the countries where it operates. AFD calculates result indicators to measure and provide a summarised report on the impact of its activity in the field, in order to serve the development of the areas where it operates and the populations benefiting from the projects funded, and, more generally, the impact of its work on the SDGs.

                                                                                                                                         Ex ante                            Ex ante

The impact of AFD Group’s financing activities can also be captured via the sector‑based breakdown of its contracts signed.

TBreakdown of AFD Group's commitment approvals by sector of activity

Approvals in millions of euros                                                                                                                                                     2024                                   2023                                   2022

* The six dimensions of the sustainable development analysis are: (i) biodiversity preservation, management of natural environments and resources; (ii) climate (dimension divided into two sub‑dimensions, the transition to a low‑carbon trajectory and resilience to climate change); (iii) social link: reduction of inequalities and inclusion; (iv) gender equality; (v) sustainable and resilient economies; (vi) sustainability of project effects and governance framework. See: https://www.afd.fr/fr/dispositif‑developpement‑durable

The “context” section, in the introduction to the SNFP, describes the contribution of the CSR policy to AFD’s strategy. One of the objectives pursued is to constantly improve how sustainable development issues are taken into account in the projects financed.

The system is based on an analysis grid that makes it possible to analyse the impacts of each intervention, in their context. It is part of AFD’s project cycle and takes place in two stages:

M at the identification and appraisal stage, an analysis is carried out by the project team. It feeds into dialogue around the improvement of the expected effects of the project, both with the partner or the client, and internally at AFD;

M at the time of approving the financing, an independent sustainable development opinion is issued by the Sustainable Development Analysis and Opinion unit, located within the Strategy Department. This opinion assesses the contributions expected from the project and qualifies its alignment with sustainable development. Said opinion can be favourable, favourable with recommendations, reserved or negative. It appears in the notes communicated to the decision‑making bodies (notably the Board of Directors) and thus informs the decisions of these bodies.

In 2024, 224 projects granted by AFD were subject to a sustainable development opinion for a total of approximately €8.9bn, i.e. 83% of the year’s grants in terms of financing. The majority of projects (55%) received a favourable opinion. 38% of projects received a favourable opinion with recommendations, and 7% of projects received a reserved or negative opinion.

For each project, a score is assigned to estimate its impact intensity and the expected effects on each of the six dimensions studied. The effects can be considered as negative and significant (-2) or residual (-1); neutral (0); or positive and moderate (+1), significant (+2) or structural (+3). The methodology allows a double rating on the same dimension (for example -1; +2) in order to show potential differentiated effects on the same dimension. The graph below shows a snapshot of the ratings by sustainable development dimension for AFD’s grants in 2024.

Since July 2023, a sustainable development analysis has been carried out at the completion of projects by the team in charge of the project closure to compare the impact promises included in the ex‑ante sustainable development analysis with the project’s results. This new method makes it possible to better assess the conditions for materialising impacts in terms of sustainable development.

In 2024, two independent assessments were launched. The first concerns the sustainable development analysis and opinion system and will draw lessons on the operation and robustness of the system ten years after its creation. The second focuses on sustainable development analyses at the completion of projects and will focus on a cluster of completed projects to draw lessons learnt on the conditions for success in terms of sustainable development impacts.

Following a test phase in 2022‑2023, Proparco and Expertise France definitively adopted a sustainable development analysis system, similar to that of AFD and adapted to the specificities of their business and organisation. The operation of these systems is detailed below. AFD Group now has a shared framework for analysing sustainable development issues. It establishes a shared base, useful internally to advance practices through the pooling of analysis and training tools, but also externally to dialogue with partners and clients on the basis of a shared understanding of the issues.

The Group is also continuing its action in the field of sustainable bonds. In 2024, the Group published an update of its thematic issues framework aligned with the SDGs in order, notably, to align the framework with the Group’s new strategic objectives and to reflect the evolution of the internal processes. AFD and Proparco’s sustainable development rating system is a cornerstone of this framework. This framework was assessed by a Second Party Opinion (SPO Moody's rating) and received a “Very Good” SQS2 Sustainability Quality Score. AFD Group carries out over 50% of its annual borrowing programme via “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDG) bond issues. In 2024, the amount of bonds issued with the SDG label represented €4.43bn.

All of these approaches to strengthen alignment with the SDGs served as a basis for the development of the 5th Strategic Orientation Plan adopted at the end of 2024, in order to seek even greater impact in operations.

2.4.2          Impacts of Proparco’s activity

A 2023‑2027 strategy serving the SDGs

Proparco’s mission is to “build the future by supporting private initiatives for a fairer and more sustainable world” (Proparco 2023‑2027 Strategy – “Preparing for the future”). All of its interventions thus aim to strengthen the contribution of private actors to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the international community in 2015.

In line with AFD Group’s Strategic Orientation Plan, Proparco’s strategic project (2023‑2027) reflects a clear intentionality in the search for impacts. The roll‑out of the ex‑ante sustainable development rating (SD rating) of our financing demonstrates our commitment to aligning all our operations with the SDGs. The reinforcement of the annual impact indicator monitoring exercise (during the life of the financing) consolidates our impact analysis and monitoring system.

T2024 Proparco ex ante result indicators (1)

SDG                                  Indicator

1.    in accordance with Proparco’s 2023‑2027 strategy, our financing contributes to: Reinforcing access to economic opportunities and the resilience of local economic systems in Africa and in the least developed and fragile countries;

2.    support the emergence of an economy compatible with climate and biodiversity challenges; and

3.    contribute to the fight against gender inequalities, act for inclusion, and contribute to the fight against socio‑economic and regional inequalities.

The impacts of our financing are measured through strategic management indicators and impact indicators. An ex ante impact analysis is presented below from a more general perspective, addressing the project’s contribution to the SDGs.

Value            Value 2024⁽¹⁾  2023

(1)   The scope of measurement of the indicators changed in 2024 to include Trade Finance guarantees

(2)   Direct jobs: total number of full‑time equivalent (FTE) employees within the scope of analysis defined for the type of client concerned: persons employed directly by the client entity and persons employed through third‑party agencies, provided that these persons provide services related to the operation and maintenance of the client entity/project (excluding construction). For investment funds, direct uses are those of the companies invested in by the fund.

(3)   Indirect jobs: number of full‑time equivalents supported (created and/or maintained) beyond the target entity/project receiving financing, within the scope of analysis defined for the type of client concerned: companies financed by the bank/NBFI client, among the micro‑borrowers of the client MFIs, at the level of the value chain of the target entity/project receiving financing for companies, the project companies and the client investment funds.

(4)   Supported jobs: jobs maintained and jobs created to which Proparco contributes through its financing.

(5)   Initiative launched during the 2018 G7 in Canada and which objective is to collectively commit and mobilise resources for projects that aim to reduce gender inequalities. 2X criteria were developed to help members identify compatible investments and initiatives.

(6)   In the scope of Proparco approvals in 2024 for an amount of €2.982bn (including AFD sub‑investments).

(7)   Final value: 775,219.

1) Scope of 124 projects approved in 2024 (€2.78bn) subject to an impact analysis.

1) These sheets are published internally on Proparco’s intranet. The following fact sheets are available: Access to drinking water, Airports, Agro‑industry, Cement, Education, Renewable energies (solar and wind), Tertiary real estate, Chemical industry, Pharmaceutical industry, Digital infrastructures, Financial institutions and climate, Financial institutions and SMEs, Housing, Building materials, Off‑grid, Plastics, Ports and maritime transport, Textiles, Sustainable tourism, Urban transport.

TRatings by sustainable development dimension of Proparco 2024 approvals (in the SD rating scope)

2.4.4             Impact of the Group’s activity on climate change and biodiversity

1) E3G Public Bank Climate Tracker Matrix, https://www.e3g.org/bdb‑matrix/

A Group “Climate and Development” strategy ⁽¹⁾ (2017‑2022, extended until 2024) based on four objectives:

1.   ensuring a “100% Paris Agreement” activity: make all of the Group’s financing consistent with low‑carbon and resilient development (see above);

2.   increasing climate finance volumes: the Group has committed to ensuring that at least 50% of its annual financing in foreign countries is aimed at climate co‑benefit projects. AFD thus represents an important contribution to the achievement of France’s new climate finance objective, reported in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNCAC). The President set this commitment at €6bn/year, including €2bn for adaptation over the 2021‑2025 period;

3.   redirecting financial and investment flows: maximise the ripple effect of its financing on the redirection of private and local investments and develop new high‑volume, high‑impact instruments. AFD Group is proactive in analysing its financial climate and environmental risks and actively participates in standards co‑construction initiatives: the TNFD initiative, the Mainstreaming Climate in Financial Institutions initiative, etc.;

4.   co‑constructing solutions and influencing standards, notably through its partnership strategy, the production of knowledge, participation in major international meetings and debates on climate finance.

AFD also adopted a Biodiversity roadmap for the 2019‑2022 period ⁽²⁾ with four pillars:

M ambitious financial targets for biodiversity. AFD committed to allocating €1bn to biodiversity finance by 2025, i.e. a doubling compared to 2020. The target is 30% of AFD’s climate financing to be favourable to biodiversity each year by 2025;

M a cross‑functional approach: integrating biodiversity into all of AFD’s activities. A 100% net zero objective, which means that the Agency undertakes to (i) not have a residual impact on nature and to (ii) support the preservation and restoration of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, in order to contribute to the goal of protecting 30% of the planet’s surface by 2030 ⁽³⁾;

M taking into account financial risks related to nature;

M supporting countries in their territorial transition and designing nature‑based solutions.

In terms of organisation, climate and nature issues were brought together in the same team, reflecting the interdependency of the two issues and the need for joint solutions to ensure sustainable development trajectories. Equally, the Climate and Nature division trains employees and leads various groups both internally (“climate focal points” composed of 150 employees from AFD, EF, Proparco, at the head office, in the branches and in the regional departments) and externally (NGOs, think tanks, ministries, IDFC members, etc.)

A new “Climate and Nature 2025‑2030” roadmap was validated by the Group’s Executive Committee in September 2024 and will be presented to the Board of Directors in 2025. Aligned with the Group’s future strategic plan, it proposes to strengthen its goals, notably by ensuring a “100% Global Framework for Biodiversity” activity.

2.4.4.1       AFD’s climate financing in 2024

In 2024, AFD generated record financing for climate.

Climate financing in 2024 amounted to €7.7bn in foreign States and the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities⁽⁴⁾.

In foreign States, AFD and Proparco approved 343 climate projects, for a total amount of €7.4bn, i.e. 61% of its commitments (in foreign States) ⁽⁵⁾. The Group therefore exceeded the 50% target set in its Climate and Development strategy. Climate projects in foreign States financed in 2024 covered two areas:

M climate change mitigation: €4.4bn in financing;

M adaptation to the impacts of climate change: €3bn in financing, i.e. 41% of climate financing (for a target set at 33%);

In particular, mitigation projects in foreign States will contribute to avoiding 5 MteqCO₂ ⁽⁶⁾ each year throughout their life cycle.

In 2024, biodiversity or nature‑positive finance amounted to €1.2bn in foreign States and the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities. This amount represents 9% of AFD Group’s climate activity and a total of 153 projects.

This quantification of biodiversity finance is obtained with an accounting method (Nature+) ⁽¹⁾ applied since 2022, which aims to qualify projects according to their intention with regard to biodiversity using six levers and an associated weighting, and no longer by simple sectoral correspondence. This method for monitoring and calculating biodiversity finance was developed internally by AFD based on the new Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in Montreal in December.

Furthermore, out of €1.2M, €959M relate to projects for which biodiversity is a secondary objective (CAD 1 biodiversity marker) and €228M relates projects dedicated to the protection/restoration of nature (CAD 2 biodiversity marker). 2.4.4.2 Carry out a “100% Paris Agreement” activity

Since 2017, AFD Group has been assessing its operations to ensure that their actions are consistent with the Paris Agreement. To this end, the Group:

M reinforces the consideration of climate change in all sectors and projects;

M assesses the consistency with low‑carbon and resilient development trajectories within the meaning of the Paris Agreement of all its projects. This change is based on:

M the analysis of all countries' public policies, their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), their prospects for long‑term low‑carbon and resilient trajectories, and the incorporation of these analyses into the Group's intervention strategies,

M systematic analysis, as part of the “sustainable development” analysis process, of the consistency of each intervention with the low‑carbon and resilient transition trajectories of the countries, as well as its effects on the redirection of investments. Through this commitment, AFD ensures that any project it finances "does not harm the climate". Since 2017, any AFD project receiving a negative rating on the climate dimension of the sustainable development opinion is deemed not to be aligned.

The Group also backs the climate trajectories of developing countries by providing support for the development and implementation of long‑term national climate strategies aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. This is the role, for example, of the 2050 facility or the AdaptAction programme.

M The “2050 facility”, set up by AFD in 2018, aims to back the development of long‑term low‑carbon and resilient strategies in targeted countries. Around thirty countries are targeted through three successive tranches, bringing the total amount of the facility to €40M today. Such exercises make it easier to programme development aid funding towards investments consistent with or accelerating low‑carbon and resilient development trajectories, or to redirect financial flows as a whole, in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. The 2050 facility focuses on three areas: support for the development of long‑term strategies, sector modelling, and transition risks.

M The “AdaptAction” facility aims to strengthen the adaptation and resilience of populations and ecosystems in 17 partner countries, by helping them to co‑construct and implement their resilient development trajectory. The programme was topped up by €15M in 2021⁽²⁾ and €7.5M in 2023 ⁽³⁾, for an extension of the programme in the Mediterranean basin. In 2024, AdaptAction continued its support in terms of scientific research, of capacity building for stakeholders, of vulnerability diagnosis, and of (pre)-feasibility studies through the financing of nine projects for an amount of €1.5M. This support has made it possible to back governance and public policies dedicated to adaptation to climate change.

AFD Group also provides support for businesses, financial systems and public energy services in their own transformation and alignment with the requirements of the Paris Agreement, through technical assistance and/or conditional financing.

2.4.4.3   Amplifying action by mobilising public and private financial players and systems, civil society and expertise

To achieve the expectations set in international agreements, AFD Group is deploying its full mobilisation capacity. It reinforces the partnership and coordination work of public development banks. AFD continued to chair and serve as General Secretariat of the Finance in Common (FiCS) coalition. This coalition brings together all the 530 public development banks in the world, representing 10% of investment worldwide. The Group’s actions aim to harness the full potential of public development banks in order to align their actions with sustainable development goals and promote inclusive, solidarity‑based and climate‑friendly finance.

AFD also hosts the permanent secretariat of the International

Development Finance Club (IDFC), an international network of 27 major public development banks and financial institutions, which share a common commitment to financing sustainable development and the fight against climate change. The Group made a major contribution to and facilitated the development of a number of the Club's deliverables in 2024:

M IDFC mobilised considerable amounts of green and climate finance, reaching $199bn in 2023 ⁽¹⁾, including $8.2bn for biodiversity;

M AFD presented a position paper to the IDFC on the new quantified objective negotiated at COP29 and the need for quality, transformational finance, aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. This position paper was adopted not only by IDFC, but also by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP‑FI), the Principle for Responsible Investment (PRI) coalition, and the Mainstreaming Climate in Financial Institutions coalition. The club also conveyed these messages to multilateral development banks;

M moreover, the members of IDFC and the multilateral development banks adopted “outcome metrics” at COP29 for a common approach to measure the results of climate finance.

In addition to public development banks, the Group seeks to maximise the ripple effect of its financing on the redirection of private investments, currently largely via credit lines for banks or direct financing by Proparco, the Group's private sector subsidiary. Climate co‑benefit financing represented more than 32% of Proparco’s activity in 2024.

As the commitment of citizen forces, including civil society and young people, is essential, the Group is reinforcing partnerships with civil society organisations. In 2024, 29 projects from civil society organisations financed via the CSO‑Initiatives programme presented co‑benefits for the climate (this represents an amount of €40.8M and almost 27% of the of the system).

The Group also raises awareness among young French citizens about climate issues, in accordance with CICID’s 2016 mandate, and contributes to providing support for climate change education. Both through an agreement with the French Ministry of Education on sustainable development education but also through educational initiatives with the educational world: for the 2023/2024 school year, 37 climate or biodiversity COP simulations with the active participation of around 2,200 students were organised in French secondary schools and the AEFE network using the educational kit provided by AFD.

1) Data for 2024 will only be available in September/October 2025.

Furthermore, a large COP simulation bringing together young people from almost all academies in France (28 out of 30) and five countries of intervention (Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Madagascar, Senegal, Tunisia) took place in October 2024. This event, sponsored by AFD and the French Ministry of Education, had a national response via a report on the Brut platform (3 million views). This awareness‑raising work is also developed through the platform created by AFD for young people, Tilt, which deciphers these major issues and encourages action, and which, in 2024, reached more than 3 million young French people between the ages of 15 and 30. Some videos had more than 1.5 million views.

The Group develops, supports and promotes research, knowledge and know‑how, innovations, expertise and skills, through ambitious research and training programmes, both by backing research ⁽²⁾ and by mobilizing its own experts, through the action of Expertise France and the Group Campus, to provide support for its partners which is as adapted to their needs as possible.

2.4.4.4   Progress in addressing financial climate risks and financial nature risks

On climate and nature financial risks:

AFD holds an important dialogue on financial climate risks with its peers and financial system players, and contributes to the sharing of best practices. Since 2017, AFD Group has been working to integrate financial climate risks, both physical and transition, into its risk analysis processes through various projects, and has developed internal and external training modules.

In 2024, AFD continued to implement an internal roadmap for the entire Group to take into account climate and nature financial risks. This roadmap includes four pillars:

M Integration of climate and nature financial risks at AFD Group. AFD updated its methodologies and taking into account financial climate risks (physical and transition), whether for sovereign or non‑sovereign exposures. With regard to nature financial risks, the Group now takes them into account for its sovereign exposures and has developed a methodology for its non‑sovereign exposures. Dedicated training courses and methodological guides are available or planned for climate and nature financial risks. AFD plans to produce its first TNFD (Taskforce for Nature‑related

Financial Disclosure) report in 2025 (2024 data);

M mobilisation of climate and nature financial risks for public policy dialogue. AFD has several internal modelling tools, such as GEMMES and ESTEEM, which have made it possible to develop new modules for assessing macroeconomic vulnerabilities in the face of low‑carbon transition mechanisms. A number of sectoral and macro diagnostics continued, for example in Vietnam, Colombia and Mexico;

M the integration of climate risks in the service offering to financial systems, including central banks. Several technical assistance programmes aimed at identifying and better taking into account financial climate risks have been rolled out among AFD’s financial institutions (more than ten in 2024) and regulators (around ten);

M contribution to international debates and the development of standards around climate and biodiversity financial risks, either directly or through the IDFC and FICS networks. This is reflected in the presentation of discussions on the subject at international events and in discussions with partners of the financial systems and associated networks, such as the NGFS (Network for Greening Financial Systems) for example.

AFD also worked on the preparation of its prudential reporting in the context of the CRR3 regulation, pillar 3 ESG, in particular on the indicators requested in relation to physical and transition climate risks. This work will continue in 2025, with the first report expected as part of the financial statements as at 30/06/2025.

2.4.4.5   Carbon footprint related to internal operations

For several years AFD Group has been gradually limiting its internal carbon (and environmental) footprint through an improved understanding of its direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and proactive action plans (responsible purchasing, energy sobriety, responsible digital, etc.). It offsets its emissions completely through the purchase of carbon credits intended to finance actions contributing to the SDGs.

 The annual assessment of the Group’s carbon footprint helps to identify its strengths and vulnerabilities. The following figures and graphs show changes over one year and the breakdown of emission factors for AFD and Proparco as calculated by the Bilan Carbone© methodology. In 2024, the AFD and Proparco carbon footprint (excluding Expertise France) broke down as follows for a total of 48,021 teqCO₂:

Registered

office                   Year                                                              2024                           Weight

Network             Year                                                              2024                           Weight

Total                     Year                                                              2024                           Weight

The weight of the head office is almost double that of the network. Head office and network combined, the main source of emissions is inputs (41%), ahead of business travel (39%) and energy (11%). In the network alone, travel weighed the most (41%), ahead of energy (29%) and inputs (13%).

3%

778

InputsFreight

TravelEnergy

Fixed assetsDirect waste Excluding energy

The head office’s total emissions increased by 25% due to a double methodological change in the consideration of the emission factor of inputs, namely the addition and restatement of intellectual services recognised as investments, which are now comparable to internal positions. Without this methodological change, emissions from the head office would have increased by only 2.9% due to the 11% increase in the travel item, without any significant change in the breakdown among classes nor a sharp increase in the number of flights. However, the valuation of CO₂ emissions related to travel remained 25% lower than pre‑COVID in 2019.

2%

619

InputsFreight

TravelEnergy

Fixed assetsDirect waste

Excluding energy

Inputs and travel now represent 92% of the head office carbon footprint. It is worth noting a 22% decrease in the fixed assets item, which was made possible by the reduction in the surface area of Proparco’s premises and IT equipment purchases in view of the move to the future head office, scheduled in 2027.

The new headquaters, recorded under “fixed assets” for €647M, is a project under a “Sale in Future State of Completion” agreement (VEFA). At this stage, data on the carbon footprint is not yet available, it will be provided by the project developer when the Group's employees move into the new premises, schedulded for 2027. The group is, of course, already attentive to the environmental aspects of the project.   

0%

0

InputsFreight

TravelEnergy

Fixed assetsDirect waste

Excluding energy

At first glance, the network’s CO2 emissions increased by 37%. However, the figures for 2024 and those for 2023 (mainly estimates) are not fully comparable. The 2024 figures present a more accurate picture of emissions due to new data collection and sharing guidelines. Furthermore, for CO₂ emissions related to electricity purchases, an emission factor specific to each country is now used, whereas in 2023 a single average emission factor had been defined. Thus, the weight of the energy item increases significantly, both in absolute and relative terms. Similarly, the estimation of the item excluding energy (specifically, emissions related to air conditioning) was made more reliable thanks to data from the network. Lastly, the calculation of emissions related to the network’s inputs is now based on first‑hand accounting information, thus making the data more reliable and homogeneous.

%

                                  1%                   26_3,052

66

InputsFreight

TravelEnergy

Fixed assetsDirect waste

Excluding energy

Lastly, AFD's and Proparco's internal CO₂ emissions are offset each year through the purchase of carbon credits following a call for tenders. In 2023, the CO₂ emissions of 2021 and 2022 were offset by financing agricultural biomass and fight againt deforestation projects in Brazil or micro‑hydro projects in Indonesia. The call for tenders for the offsetting of CO₂ emissions in 2024 should be completed very soon. Discussions are under way to change the corresponding methodology.

2.4.4.6   Expertise France's internal carbon footprint

Expertise France is committed to reducing its carbon and environmental footprint

In 2022, Expertise France carried out a first assessment of its carbon footprint, revealing that 95% of its impact came from air travel. As an implementation agency, an in‑depth reflection on the design of the projects it develops is needed in order to control its carbon impact. However, this approach must sometimes adapt to the guidelines already defined by the donors, which may reduce the available room for manoeuvre in certain situations.

In this context, the travel policy is being reviewed. Various analyses were carried out to assess the impact of travel in 2023 and 2024. Some projects have included a budget dedicated to the voluntary offsetting of emissions generated by air travel. Moreover, a reflection on a low‑carbon trajectory is being developed.

To this end, Expertise France plans to resume an annual calculation of its GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions in 2025 with an expanded scope encompassing the head office, travel and country departments. The decentralisation strategy, currently under way, is perceived as a key lever for reducing the environmental impact of travel.

2.4.5       Impacts related to the Group’s activity in strengthening the social link

As part of its new strategy for 2025‑2030, AFD Group reaffirmed its cross‑functional goals to promote social links with a stronger commitment to the development of more egalitarian and inclusive societies. This purpose will be adapted to all Group’s operations and will be embodied in two cross‑functional objectives: I) the reduction of multidimensional inequalities and the promotion of inclusion, and II) the promotion of gender equality through a transformative feminist approach. Furthermore, support for the sports and CCI sectors will be a specific lever for achieving this goal given their strong potential in terms of social cohesion.

2.4.5.1   Reducing multidimensional inequalities and promoting inclusion

According to the World Bank, in 2024 ⁽¹⁾ 93% of the world’s population lived in countries with significant inequalities (Gini index greater than 30). This same year, Oxfam drew attention to the inequality levels around the world: “the rich countries of the North hold 69% of the world’s wealth and have 74% of the wealth of billionaires while they are home to only 21% of the global population”.

1) Poverty, Prosperity, and Planet Report 2024.

These inequalities, in the current context of economic, social and climatic “polycrisis” and conflicts, threaten social cohesion and jeopardise the outlook for improving the living conditions of disadvantaged populations.

AFD Group is taking action to finance the reduction of inequalities and inclusion, and to provide support for more egalitarian and inclusive development trajectories. In 2024, this goal led to significant results:

M 50% of projects granted by AFD aim to reduce multidimensional inequalities (projects rated +2 or +3 on the “Social link: reduction of inequalities and inclusion” dimension of the sustainable development analysis and opinion), a result that was up compared to 2023⁽²⁾;

M at Proparco level, more than 35% of the projects approved in 2024 were rated +2 or +3 on the "Social" dimension of the Sustainable Development Rating, and thus contributed to the reduction of socio‑economic or regional inequalities.

In 2024, AFD continued to strengthen its tools and rolled out several dedicated training courses (multidimensional inequalities and analysis of the tax and budgetary impact on poverty and inequalities) both at the head office and at the branches (first training at the AFD Regional Department in 2024).

The partnership with the OECD Community of Practice on Inequalities and Poverty made it possible to contribute to the publication of the OECD Development Co‑operation 2024 report on the theme “Putting the ecological transition at the service of the fight against poverty and inequalities” ⁽³⁾.

Funded by the Directorate General for International Partnerships (INTPA) of the European Commission and implemented by AFD, the Inequalities Research Facility continued to provide support for research work on inequalities in 2024, notably in Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia and South Africa.

Moreover, in 2024, several events and intellectual productions enhanced our reflections on the theme:

M the 16th international conference on development was held at AFD on the theme “from research to action”, notably in terms of inequalities (5 December);

M Inequalities in Sub‑Saharan Africa: Multidimensional Perspectives and Future Challenges, a new book of the Africa Development Forum series, was produced by AFD and the African Center of Excellence for Inequalities Research and will be published in the AFD/World Bank Group joint

collection;

M several research papers were produced on the topics of inequality, inclusion and poverty, including:

M Distributive impact of green taxes in Mexico with Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas (Mexico),

M Quantifying Green Job Potential in Colombia: A Task‑Based Approach and implications for inequality, with Universidad de los Andes (Colombia),

M Analysis of the impact of taxation and social spending on poverty and inequalities in Senegal, with the General Directorate of Planning and Economic Policies (DGPPE) in Senegal.

2.4.5.2      On the promotion of gender equality

In line with the efforts undertaken for more than a decade, AFD continued its action to promote gender equality with a twofold goal: (i) gender mainstreaming (CAD1) across all the sectors of the Group's operations and (ii) a stronger commitment to the emancipation of women, by providing support for projects whose main objective is the reduction of gender inequalities (CAD2). The Group’s feminist signature was affirmed, in line with the framework of French feminist diplomacy, which will be renewed in 2025, by adopting a transformative feminist approach in terms of gender equality. In 2024, these goals were reflected in the following significant results:

M the share of AFD’s commitments whose main or secondary objective is to promote gender equality (volumes marked CAD1 and CAD2 ⁽¹⁾) reached 61% (€5.6bn), thus making a positive contribution to the goal set by the 2021 development law on French bilateral programmable ODA marked CAD1 or CAD2. This significant increase compared to 2023 (51% of commitments) reflects the efforts made by AFD to systematically integrate the gender dimension into its operations,

M €342M in financing granted in the form of loans or grants for projects marked CAD2, which confirm AFD’s commitment to “gender finance” with, by way of illustration, budgetary financing of the public policy for gender equality in Morocco and several credit lines for banks whose main objective is gender equality in Colombia, Egypt and Costa Rica;

M the share of grants whose main objective is to promote gender equality (grant volumes marked CAD2) was 11.3%, compared to an initial target of 15%, partly due to the decrease in grant resources while other priorities were also maintained.

As part of France’s feminist diplomacy, AFD continued to finance feminist organisations and movements via the FSOF (Support Fund for Feminist Organisations) scheme co‑managed with the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs ( MEAE). In 2024 €48M in grants were committed through AFD for an initial target of €35M. Two calls for projects were funded on the issues of body autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights in Africa (€6M) and on the fight against gender‑based violence in the field of justice through a project in Africa and a project in Latin America (€8M). Equally, a specific initiative funded by the MEAE via AFD’s CSO Initiative enabled the launch of Alliance féministe francophone, announced as part of the Francophonie summit in October 2024. It aims to strengthen the participation of French‑speaking feminist activists in international bodies.

AFD also continued to make the rights‑based approach to sexual and reproductive rights and health (SRHR) one of the key pillars of its action to promote gender equality. More than €81M was granted in 2024 by AFD to finance projects or project components dedicated to these issues, as in Chad, for example, where AFD’s action aims to improve the sexual and reproductive rights and health of women and to prevent gender‑based violence (€11M).

To promote French feminist diplomacy, AFD continued to actively mobilise as a feminist funder during major international events, including the CSW68 (Commission on the Status of Women) meeting in New York in March 2024. This CSW68 was also an opportunity to renew the partnership agreement with UN Women, in order to continue to develop new joint projects on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

Proparco and gender equality

Since 2018, Proparco has partnered with five other G7 development finance institutions to implement the 2X Challenge initiative. Its objective is to mobilise the private sector to contribute to the development of women as entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees and as consumers of products and services through projects that promote their economic participation.

Through this initiative, more than $33.6bn in financing contributing to the reduction of gender inequalities was deployed by the Development Financial Institutions (DFIs), including more than €1bn from 2018 to 2023 by Proparco.

The strategic objective is to grant, over the 2023‑2025 period, $1.9bn in projects contributing to the reduction of gender inequalities according to the criteria of this initiative.

In 2024, a new 2X Challenge spanning the 2024‑2027 period was announced at the G7 Summit in Italy, with an ambitious objective of mobilising $20bn in investments integrating a gender perspective. Proparco actively contributed to the co‑construction of this new Challenge with its peers, playing a key role in defining the objectives and strengthening its methodology. In 2024, Proparco once again achieved its annualised target, with 28 projects aligned with this methodology, for a total amount of €677M.

Moreover, in order to enhance its approach to reducing gender inequalities, Proparco initiated several projects: 1) conducting an assessment to measure the gender‑related impacts of Proparco’s investments that meet the 2X employment criterion (criterion 3) and 2) the launch of a study with 60 Decibels on the impact of its investments in Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Tunisia with its final beneficiaries.

Lastly, to reaffirm its commitment to reducing gender inequalities, Proparco launched several initiatives: reinforcing its approach to risks related to gender‑based violence and harassment (GBVH) and rolling out its technical gender support offering, as well as launching client awareness‑raising training on GBVH, in partnership with British International Investment (BII).

Expertise France and gender equality

In terms of reducing gender inequalities, Expertise France contributes to the commitments made by AFD Group, which makes social links and gender one of the priority cross‑functional themes of its activities. In its contractual targets and resources, the Agency sets target of having 60% of its signed projects (in terms of financial volume and for French financing) marked as CAD1 or CAD2 according to the OECD gender marker in 2024 and 75% in 2025⁽¹⁾. Achieving this target contributes to aligning Expertise France with France’s feminist diplomacy strategy and the “EU Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Emancipation of Women in External Action for 2021‑2025 (GAP III)”.

Expertise France thus aims to integrate gender in a cross‑functional manner, in each of its areas of intervention, at all levels and at all stages of the development of its projects. In this way, the Agency contributes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 5 on gender equality, as well as SDG 10 on the reduction of inequalities.

The Agency is thus fully mobilised to contribute to the development of the Group’s Social Link roadmap for the 2024‑2029 period.

2.4.5.3   Sport and the cultural and creative industries

In 2024, AFD was provided with an opportunity to strengthen its advocacy and mobilisation efforts to increase investment in sport for sustainable development. AFD co‑organised, at the request of the French President and with the International Olympic Committee, the Sport for Sustainable Development Summit, on the sidelines of the opening of the Paris 2024

Olympic Games. This unprecedented summit brought together 500 participants, including more than 55 Heads of State and Government and heads of international organisations. It resulted in ambitious and measurable political, financial and sporting commitments on five major priorities (i) education and employment, (ii) health and nutrition, (iii) equality and inclusion, (iv) financing and impact measurement, and (v) sustainability and legacy.

Moreover, AFD continued its financial commitment with 16 projects committed for a total amount of more than €34M. These projects aim to develop access to sustainable, accessible and inclusive sports infrastructure, support public sports policies, strengthen the capacities of players in the sports movement, and back social innovation driven by civil society, with a strong focus on the consideration of gender issues. This year also saw the development of activity throughout AFD Group with the announcement of Proparco’s first investment in the sector and the mobilisation of Expertise France on two projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one operation in the Western Balkans.

Equally, 2024 was a record year for  AFD Group’s investment in the cultural and creative industries (ICC). 22 projects were committed for an amount of €126M, more than half of which were loans. These projects aim to meet the needs of cultural sites by rehabilitating and enhancing heritage, or by promoting access to local cultural infrastructures for greater cultural democratisation and democracy. They also make it possible to finance professional training in cultural professions and cultural entrepreneurship in order to support innovative and inclusive economic development, notably for young people and women. They also provide support for sustainable, structuring and accessible cultural policies, as is the case in Benin, with AFD’s first budgetary funding dedicated to public cultural policy. Lastly, they contribute to the transformational agenda, as shown by the pan‑European and pan‑African museum cooperation project, funded by  AFD Group alongside the European Union, which will make it possible to renew relations between museums on the two continents.

Furthermore, this year marked a strong development of CCIs throughout the Group. Expertise France mobilised on approximately 10 of the 22 projects financed. Proparco continued the implementation of the Creafund project on the delegation of EU funds and announced that it is investing with SFI in entertainment. Lastly, AFD Group continued its advocacy and mobilisation work to increase investments in CCIs. Notably, as part of Équipe France, it contributed to the organisation of an event and the drafting of the commitments of the Heads of State during the Francophonie Summit.

1) CAD1: project with a specific objective dedicated to the reduction of gender inequalities. CAD2: project whose main objective is to reduce gender inequalities.

2.4.6              Reinforcing the social and environmental impact of AFD Group purchases

AFD Group’s responsible purchasing roadmap: three commitments and four levers

The responsible purchasing roadmap, adopted by the Group’s Executive Committee in 2024, covers the purchases of AFD, Proparco and Expertise France. It was co‑constructed with the network of SAR officers, buyers and representatives of the various business lines. It meets three commitments:

M reducing the environmental footprint of purchases;

M reinforcing their social responsibility;

M contributing to the economy and the territories.

It is based on the following levers:

M a governance representative of the Group’s entities;

M quantitative and qualitative objectives through to 2027;

M a transformation plan to achieve these objectives; and

M the publication, in early 2025, of the Group SPASER (Scheme for the promotion of socially and environmentally responsible purchases), a report required by the Climate and Resilience Law for public contractors with a purchasing volume of more than €50M, synonymous with accountability and dialogue.

The roadmap will reinforce the environmental and social impacts of purchases, and will contribute to: M the reduction of the Group’s carbon emissions;

M purchases from companies in the sheltered sector;

M more responsible digital technology; and

M the Group’s commitment to gender equality and diversity.

The roadmap will also enable the Group to comply with the Climate and Resilience Law, and to work to achieve the objectives of the State’s National Sustainable Procurement Plan (PNAD) ⁽¹⁾.

Establishing a responsible purchasing governance representative of the Group’s entities

AFD Group’s internal low‑carbon and environmental trajectory steering committee (COTRAJ) ensures, among other things, the governance of the responsible purchasing roadmap and oversees the achievement of objectives. The management team of the Group Purchasing Department and the Sustainable Purchasing and Supplier Relations Officer coordinate the due completion of deliverables and monitor results.

The transformation plan's actions in 2024

An interactive platform of environmental and social considerations adapted to the Group’s various purchasing categories has been developed and is made available to AFD Group’s buyers and specifiers. It enables them to select and integrate environmental and social considerations into their calls for tender that are adapted to the challenges of each purchasing category. It also identifies purchasing projects that are conducive to sourcing from companies in the adapted sector.

Responsible purchasing training was provided to 83% of purchasers in the Group’s Purchasing Department, as well as to around thirty employees from the various AFD, Proparco and Expertise France Executive Departments that regularly carry out purchases. This training provided participants with the necessary knowledge and know‑how: presentation of the roadmap and objectives, use of the platform for environmental and social considerations, and integration of responsible purchasing into the purchasing process.

Results achieved

These actions made it possible to move towards the objectives set. In the first nine months of 2024, 53% of AFD’s contracts included at least one environmental consideration, and 37% at least one social consideration. These results make it possible to move towards the objectives of the PNAD.

As in previous years, the Group has systematically implemented the allotment of contracts, a legal requirement of public procurement which requires contracts to be awarded in separate lots in order to be accessible to smaller suppliers.

Dialogue with the Group’s suppliers continued through meetings with strategic suppliers. These meetings are an opportunity to take stock of AFD Group’s relationship with the supplier, to understand this relationship in a cross‑functional way, and to discuss the best practices implemented as well as performance tracks. Since 2023, AFD has held annual meetings with Syntec and some of its members. These discussions also provided feedback on operational issues and identified areas for improvement.

In 2025, 2026 and 2027, the Group will continue to roll out the roadmap, and gradually systematise the integration of environmental and social considerations in its markets, in order to achieve its objectives of 100% environmental considerations in all its markets, and of 100% social considerations in markets above the European threshold of €221K in 2027. Approaches to decarbonising purchases and the programming of disability purchases will be rolled out in 2025. The Group’s first SPASER, covering 2023 and the first nine months of 2024, was drafted with the involvement of the relevant internal contributors. Responsible purchasing will thus contribute to AFD Group’s CSR, and to one of the four pillars of its 2025‑2030 Strategic Orientation Plan.

Transparency and dialogue with stakeholders

2.5         Transparency and dialogue with stakeholders

2.5.1          Transparency of financing

Transparency of financing is a strong corporate social responsibility issue for AFD Group. Transparency of AFD’s activities is ensured in compliance with the regulatory requirements associated with its legal status (business secrecy) and the protection of personal data and individual and public freedoms guaranteed by French data protection laws.

Through its policy of transparency and dialogue ⁽¹⁾ AFD Group strives to comply with the best practices of other financial stakeholders and with international standards, including the standard of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) whilst taking into account the expectations of its stakeholders.

This policy reflects the Group’s desire to better respond to the growing demand for information and explanations from its stakeholders with regard to its governance, strategy and objectives, the financing granted, and the goals and results of the French development aid policy implemented by the Group. It is based on five principles: usefulness, openness, the protection of trust and sensitive information, attentive listening, and dialogue.

Internally, a legal notice and a procedure for disclosure of information provide a framework for transparency implementation and ensure compliance with confidential information and business secrecy's rules. The information disclosure requests may concern information reported on AFD’s website, AFD’s open data platform and the IATI registry,

TShare of AFD projects (3) whose NCO is published in open data*

or other information on AFD Group, its strategy, financing transactions and intellectual productions.

AFD continued to strengthen its data disclosure policy in IATI format and on its open data site ⁽²⁾ which implies a continuous effort to expand the scope of transparency. In its 2024 index, the international NGO Publish What You Fund (PWYF), which assesses the quality of funders’ transparency, classified AFD in the “fair” category, which represents a downgrade compared to the previous assessment. This reduction in the rating comes at a time when major efforts have been made over the last two years to change the Group’s internal practices as well as the quality and quantity of the data published. An action plan has been put in place to return to a “good” rating in 2026.

The Group also has a new open data portal, launched in June 2024 (after the PWYF review) and designed to value all data falling within the scope of transparency. This new portal is more ergonomic, better structured and with simplified access to data.

In order to better communicate on its financing, AFD publishes a “Public Communication Note on Operations (NCO)” for each project with a summary of the agreement signed and a description of the project, its stakeholders and financial information. In 31 December 2024, the NCO project data published covered 83% of the projects falling within the scope of transparency.

                                                        2023*                                              2024

Transparency and dialogue with stakeholders

2.5.2         Dialogue with stakeholders

AFD is committed to dialogue with its stakeholders as part of its corporate social responsibility policy. In 2022, the Group updated its stakeholder mapping, notably taking into account the integration of Expertise France and the inclusion of the planet and living things as a stakeholder.

The transparency and dialogue policy acknowledges this dialogue with stakeholders as a cornerstone of AFD’s corporate social responsibility approach, as it helps integrating social, environmental, ethical and human rights concerns into the Group’s strategies. AFD strategic documents which determine its areas of intervention at country level, may be shared for consultation with stakeholders (civil society organisations, local authorities, companies, research institutes) before being submitted to the Board of Directors.

In 2024, as part of the preparation and finalisation of its new Strategic Orientation Plan(POS V, 2025‑2030, adopted in December 2024), AFD Group held several bilateral and multilateral meetings:

This dialogue policy is part of an approach fostering continuous improvement, mutual learning, innovation and impact. In this respect, it encompasses more than just information and communication. AFD maintains a regular dialogue with its numerous partners and peers, as well as conducting consultations and exchanging best practices. For example, twice a year, the Climate and Nature Department convenes a Partners Committee bringing together AFD’s reporting ministries, representatives of civil society, and private and institutional players. Another example is an experience‑sharing group that brings together AFD and civil society organisations on a quarterly basis to discuss the environmental responsibility of organisations and the implementation of international solidarity projects favourable to nature and the climate.

When investigating and implementing the funded projects, AFD ensures through legal conditions and support, that the project owner consults with the various stakeholders. For projects with significant environmental and social risks, AFD applies the

M with several players in French civil society, including member associations of Coordination Sud or its Board of Directors (Vétérinaires sans frontières, Médecins du monde, Action contre la faim, Handicap international and SOS Village d’enfants);

M with European research centres and/or think tanks including the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), the Foundation for International Development Studies and Research (FERDI), the Centre for

Global Development (CGDEV), members of European Think Tank Group (ETTG), including ODI (United Kingdom), ECDPM (Netherlands and Belgium), DIE (Germany), IAI (Italy), Elcano (Spain);

M peers and partners, including the Practitioners' Network for European Development Cooperation, the Joint European Financiers for International Cooperation (JEFIC), DG NEAR and DG INTPA, the Asian Development Bank, JICA, KfW, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, BGK, JEFIC, Banque rwandaise de développement and Banco Nacional de Costa Rica.

World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework. Revised in 2016 the Framework now includes measures regarding the association of stakeholders at each and every stage of a project. It is essential to engage in dialogue with local authorities, communities and non‑profit groups regarding projects proposed for funding, in particular those presenting environmental and social risks, to take their opinions and concerns into consideration and thereby improve the living conditions of populations and the sustainability of projects.

Project sponsor support steer the projects, programmes or public policies financed by AFD Group. Supporting activities must enable them to better coordinate and manage financing and ensure the due completion of the activities and/or work planned, as well as the sustainability of results. And in fine, the Group’s strategic and operational objective is to promote more effective, user‑centric, open, innovative and transparent project owners.

AFD acts (i) directly through its technical experts who work with partners (ii) through specific tools that enable it to mobilise consultants to support project owners, such as:

M 209 grant funds, delegated funds or even sometimes project components of a loan:

M the start‑up, preparation and monitoring facility project (FAPS),

M the Technical expertise and experience exchange fund

(FEXTE),

M the French local authority financing facility (FICOL),

M the Crisis recovery expertise and studies fund (FEESC).

In 2024, AFD continued, notably through the Citizens and

Institutions division :

M its support for stakeholders and their SDG trajectories: support and advice on the organisational transformations of customers (continuous support and rapid deployment of team experts and consultants during the project appraisal phase in particular) to back them in their SDG actions/ trajectories;

M its mobilisation on public policy support programmes, reforms and public policy dialogue via budget financing: providing support to customers for the analysis and design of their public policies: structuring budget financing to provide support for reforms; structuring technical cooperation programmes associated with budgetary financing;

M its support for the roll‑out of citizen participation systems to provide support for customers who want to adopt a citizen participation strategy at their level.

Measuring the quality of the Group’s relationship with its partners

The Group is increasingly adopting an approach resolutely focused on its customers and partners, which justified (i) the reorganisation, in 2022, of AFD’s Operations Department into two distinct entities, one representing the voice of the customer (the Geographical Department) and the other providing technical solutions to meet their needs (the Sustainable Development Solutions Department), as well as (ii) the creation, in 2023, of a Geographical Department within Expertise France. This customer focus is also reflected in the Group’s desire to measure the quality of the Group’s relationship with its development partners.

Thus, after a first survey of AFD’s customers in 2021, the GEO Department wanted to launch a second Ipsos study of AFD’s customers in 2024, involving for the first time EF beneficiaries, at the same time as Proparco was carrying out its fourth survey jointly with its Dutch and German counterparts. This made it possible to display a number of Group‑wide indicators for the first time.

This second study, which was based on a survey and qualitative interviews conducted by Ipsos, confirmed the relationship of trust between the Group and its customers, and the added value they attribute to this partnership: two out of three customers call on AFD for issues relating to impact and the transformation of their institution, rather than just for its financing. They also value the close relationship they maintain with the network and project team members, whom they consider to be committed, available and responsive.

The study nevertheless showed a decrease in indicators for AFD and Proparco, as customers criticised the Group, as in 2021, for its lack of procedural flexibility and, which was new, a lack of intra‑Group coordination. While bestowing the Group with a high degree of trust, customers want to be able to take greater advantage of their partnership relationship to be put in touch with both their peers and other financiers.

Coordination with development actors: partnership by design

The new Customer Orientation roadmap, which is currently being formalised, will thus include: the continuation of periodic surveys while seeking ever‑increasing Group convergence; the continuation of the experiment conducted on the “hot” post‑signature mini‑questionnaire (the administration of which is made complex due to the absence of automation in the information systems); the multiplication of customer events in the network while also integrating the partnership dimension. The pursuit of digital projects likely to facilitate the customer experience in terms of procedures, the gradual implementation of simplification projects, as well as the decentralization efforts are all efforts led by the Group to be at the side of its customers.

Propulse, a technical support offering

In parallel with its financing transactions (debt, guarantees or equity investment) Proparco also offers its customers support to enable them to progress in terms of skills and practices and thus to adapt to a changing and ever‑more competitive local and international environment, as well as to initiate or deepen a socially and environmentally responsible approach.

“Propulse”, Proparco’s technical support or capacity building offer, consists in providing external expertise and know‑how to Proparco’s customers, in addition to the support provided more generally by Proparco experts in their relationship with these customers. Propulse responds to the skills and/or transformation challenges of Proparco’s customers to become more green or inclusive (environmental and social responsibility, energy efficiency, green finance, gender) and more sustainable (operational excellence, quality of products and services, governance, talent management).

Since 2011, Proparco has carried out nearly 216 technical assistance projects for customers financed directly or via Fisea, and supported more than 470 other projects through technical support facilities delegated to financial intermediaries.

Capacity building through Expertise France

Focused on the transfer of know‑how and dialogue between peers, Expertise France’s interventions aim to strengthen the capacities of partner countries and to define and implement quality public policies. The Agency is involved in the following areas:

As a full component of Official Development Assistance, expert missions and technical assistance are an essential lever for cooperation as well as a tool for bilateral dialogue and the promotion of French and European know‑how.

The support methods offered are varied and complementary, making it possible to meet both short‑term needs and long‑term support: methodological and technical advice (diagnoses, recommendations, action plans); capacity building (design and delivery of training, support for change, training of trainers); networking (exchange among peers, national or regional consultation workshops); supply of goods, services and works (drafting of specifications, award of contracts, coordination and supervision of work).

In fragile or crisis contexts, Expertise France can quickly deploy the capacity to play the role of delegated project manager (MOAD) by making possible the implementation of projects co‑built with local partners. In this case, Expertise France plays its role as an operator that makes these complex projects possible: global coordination, cross‑functional engineering (technical, legal, financial, results monitoring) and the role of expert assembler, associated with more or less significant grants to third parties (CSOs, incubators, first‑time entrepreneurs) and the supply of equipment or small rehabilitation work as part of appraisal activities.

In 2024, the Agency began its decentralisation project with the creation of Country Departments (Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Comoros, Tunisia, Haiti, Democratic Republic of the Congo) led by the Geographical Department (GEO). Around 77 projects were already transferred in 2024. This commitment allows for a deeper geographical anchoring, reinforced partnerships with our local partners, and growing openness to new cooperation prospects.

Expertise France is also mandated by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) and the Ministry of the Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty to manage international technical experts (ITEs) and seconded national experts (SNEs) (recruitment of experts, monitoring and evaluation of assignments, network management).

Placed within national institutions, multilateral or regional organisations, the experts play a technical support and

M democratic, economic and financial governance;

M peace, stability and security;

M climate, agriculture and sustainable development;

M health and human development; M sustainable and inclusive economies. advisory role in France’s priority sectors in terms of Official Development Assistance. Over 300 mid‑sized companies (with Treasury and MEAE financing) were deployed as of 31 December 2024.

2.6.3          Contributing to the Development‑Defence link

2.7      Fair practices

1) Our commitments in terms of the fight against corruption: https://www.afd.fr/fr/lutte‑contre‑la‑corruption

Fair practices

M as regards the third‑party assessment process, the organisation of the system applying to the Group’s suppliers and service providers was amended in order to centralise the performance of anti‑corruption due diligence within the Purchasing Department (since October 2024). Moreover, a procedure for assessing the risks of corruption in the philanthropic and sponsorship actions carried out by the Group was adopted in 2024. Furthermore, in 2024 the Group rolled out an anti‑corruption questionnaire which aims to collect, in accordance with the requirements of the French Anti‑Corruption Agency (AFA), information on any anti‑corruption measures put in place by the counterparty assessed;

M as regards staff training, the mandatory annual e‑learning training modules dedicated to the prevention of corruption and influence peddling, as well as to AFD Group's anti‑corruption code of conduct, were overhauled in 2024. Some of the exposed staff also benefited from more specific face‑to‑face and remote training.

This anti‑corruption and influence peddling compliance programme applies directly to AFD as an industrial and commercial public undertaking, but also to its subsidiaries Proparco, Sogefom ⁽¹⁾ and Fisea.

In addition, AFD, also ensures that Expertise France, SIC or Proparco’s subsidiary Digital Africa, establish a system consistent with that of AFD on the subject.

Similarly, Expertise France condemns any unethical behaviour and ensures that its employees comply with this principle. Carried out by Executive Management and implemented by the Risk, Compliance and Internal Control division, the Group Ethics Charter and AFD Group’s general policy on preventing and combating prohibited practices are implemented in relations with third parties, notably counterparties and stakeholders of financed projects, suppliers, partners and employees of Expertise France.

To this end, the Agency equipped itself with a set of tools. First of all, a code of conduct, drawn up in 2020 and appended to the internal regulations, which defines and illustrates prohibited actions and situations and the behaviours to be adopted in the conduct of activities in order to prevent corruption and influence peddling, fraud and money laundering.

Employees are thus expected and required to comply with the international, national and local laws and regulations applicable in each country where Expertise France operates, but also to act in compliance with the principles and obligations of the code with integrity, loyalty and honesty.

In this regard, and in order to ensure knowledge and understanding of the Agency’s challenges and commitments, specific training on the code of conduct has been provided to employees since 2022 for all its staff, whether based at the head office or in the field. It illustrates the different types of behaviour to be prohibited and likely to characterise acts of corruption or influence peddling. This training constitutes a common base of knowledge for all employees in terms of business ethics, and disseminates a culture of “compliance” and ethics at the Agency.

The Agency also set up a system for identifying, preventing and managing conflicts of interest so that employees can act honestly, fairly and professionally in all circumstances. It is reflected in the conflict of interest management procedure published in 2024. Any conflict of interest must be declared to the Risk Compliance Internal Control division.

Similarly, selection in public contracts must be impartial: no conflict of interest must exist at the level of the selection committee. The signature of a non‑conflict of interest commitment is mandatory before each committee meeting.

In the same vein, the procurement and grant award procedures guarantee equal treatment, non‑discrimination and transparency, principles that prevent any act of corruption. All of these rules are set out in the regulations governing public contracts and grants and controlled by the permanent control system.

Furthermore, in order to prevent any risk of corruption and guarantee the integrity of co‑contractors, a set of due diligence procedures is carried out before entering into a relationship (due diligence procedure). They include, among other things, checks relating to sanction lists, convictions, and compliance with social and tax contributions. In addition, co‑contractors are asked to provide a sworn statement relating to the exclusion criteria and the absence of conflict of interest.

Lastly, in 2023, the procedure for reporting and processing illegal practices was published. The illegal practices notably concern the following acts: discrimination, moral harassment, sexual harassment, corruption, influence peddling, illegal taking of interests, fraud (internal and external), fraud against EU interests; anti‑competitive practices; misuse of Expertise France resources or assets; non‑cooperative practices; money laundering, terrorist financing. Three systems are implemented:

M the system for reporting distressing situations at work (or QLW process);

M the internal whistleblowing system, which makes it possible to report practices such as anti‑competitive practices, fraud, fraud against the interests of the EU, corruption, the misuse of Expertise France’s resources or assets, non‑cooperative practices, money laundering or terrorist financing;

M AFD Group whistleblowing system, which the Agency joined in 2023. It applies to all employees and is open to third parties (service providers, financial stakeholders, beneficiaries). Accessible from Expertise France website, this system makes it possible to collect reports concerning the existence of behaviours or situations contrary to applicable laws, the Ethics Charter or the Agency's values. It is possible to report a behaviour or practice anonymously.

2.7.2 Checks made during a project's life cycle

In accordance with banking regulations, prior to the start of a financed project, the counterparty and any appropriate shareholders are researched in depth in order to identify the beneficial owner. Individuals subject to political exposure are also identified. As part of the monitoring of project execution, the methods for reimbursing and receiving amounts of any kind, in particular dividends, and for the settlement of equity investments (transfer of equity investments) are closely monitored, because they can reveal prohibited practices.

At the time of the examination, and then throughout the life of the projects, the Group provides its employees with a filtering tool which consolidates information such as the financial and commercial sanctions adopted by France, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and the UN. This filter is also integrated into the settlement processing chain issued by AFD’s Finance Department. The objective is to ensure that no counterparty, beneficiary of financing, supplier or successful tenderer of a call for tenders financed by AFD, is facing financial sanctions, or operates in sectors under embargo.

It should be noted that when reports of prohibited practices are reported in connection with the implementation of projects, they are processed, since the end of 2018, by a dedicated function within the Compliance Department. The “Investigation” function’s main task is to investigate, in a professional and objective manner, the reports made by AFD Group employees (called “suspicions”) or by third parties (called “allegations”) concerning prohibited practices affecting projects financed, namely acts of corruption, fraud, anti‑competitive practices, money laundering and terrorist financing.

2.7.3         Third‑party commitments

As regards counterparties, AFD Group financing agreements include a number of clauses that require them to make commitments in terms of combating corruption, fraud, cartels, money laundering and the financing of terrorism, as well as complying with French and international financial and trade sanctions. These clauses notably oblige counterparties to inform the relevant AFD Group corporate entity of cases of alleged prohibited practices or potential or proven reprehensible practices, and to take remedial action in accordance with the Group's expectations. In the absence of remediation, the Group reserves the right to trigger an event of breach. It can suspend payments, cancel the portion of its financing in relation to which improper or non‑compliant practices have been detected and demand early repayment of all or part of a loan or repayment of all or part of a grant paid. The Group may also decide to take the matter to the French courts or to the local courts where the project is being carried out. Moreover, being subject to banking regulations on the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, AFD, its subject subsidiaries or AFD on behalf of its non‑subject subsidiaries, may make a suspicion report to Tracfin. Controls in the context of foreign public contract awards

Public contracts financed by AFD in foreign States are subject, according to risk criteria, to a specific control, which makes it possible to ensure that the various stages of the process to award contracts, carried out by the project managers benefiting from AFD financing, take place under the required conditions of integrity, transparency, fairness and efficiency. These controls take the form of the issuance of a no‑objection notice (ANO) and are carried out ex ante, at specific stages of the process to award contracts. In certain cases and after AFD’s approval, an ex post control may also take place for certain processes relating to the award of contracts.

In addition to these controls, AFD imposes exclusion criteria on the project management of contract winners, in addition to those existing in local legislation. Thus, a contract cannot be financed by AFD if the successful tenderer falls in one of the cases of exclusion or ineligibility specified in the directives for the award of contracts financed by AFD in foreign States ⁽¹⁾.

Training on AFD’s contract award processes and specific requirements is provided to both AFD employees and project managers, in face‑to‑face and e‑learning formats (available since 2022 in French and in English).

2.7.4       Systems for reporting reprehensible practices

There are several reporting mechanisms at AFD Group to report reprehensible practices. Firstly, AFD, Proparco and Sogefom employees and representatives have an operating incident declaration system which collects and centralises all shortcomings identified by employees (including AML/CFT, and reports of corruption and fraud).

AFD, Proparco and Sogefom employees must also report to the Compliance Department any suspicion of irregular practices in projects or in the context of the activities of these three entities on their own behalf via a line‑management reporting mechanism. The processing of these reports is managed by the “Investigations” function of the Compliance Department in order to have an exhaustive overview of the cases encountered, and to ensure a consistent response. AFD, Proparco and Sogefom employees and representatives also have the right to contact the director of this department directly, if they consider that they have identified a situation presenting a risk of non‑compliance.

Fair practices

Since January 2019, AFD, Proparco and Sogefom and, since 2023, Expertise France have provided their employees with a whistleblowing system, in accordance with the requirements of the so‑called “Sapin II” law. This system constitutes a voluntary and optional warning system when an employee believes that current alert channels have not operated properly, or that there is a serious obstacle preventing their use. The entry point of the system is AFD Group Ethics Advisor. This same system is also open to the Group’s suppliers and to the beneficiaries of the Group’s philanthropic and sponsorship initiatives.

Lastly, since September 2021, a system for reporting prohibited practices has been open to the Group's third parties: the procedures for making a referral appear on AFD's institutional website ⁽¹⁾, and 2024 showed that this channel was extremely useful due to the number of referrals received through this avenue.

2.7.5 Training of Group employees and representatives

In accordance with applicable French regulations, AFD Group ensures that all of its employees, including those of its network of local offices, receive regular training and notifications on the risks and procedures to implement in terms of the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud and corruption.

These training courses were delivered both in e‑learning format (a set of six mandatory training modules, subject to disciplinary sanctions, under the “Must” label were made available to AFD Group employees - internal and external), face‑to‑face and through webinars (synchronous training).

i.       Training provided in e‑learning format on the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML/ CFT): every year all AFD and Proparco employees (head office and network) are required to validate one or two AML/CFT e‑learning modules according to their exposure to this risk. According to their profile, the learner follows and validates the AML/CFT Level 1 pathway (agent not exposed) or the AML/CFT Level 2 pathway (agent exposed). At 31 December 2024, 96% of AFD and Proparco staff subject to the obligation to follow the Level 1 AML/ CFT course had completed their training (i.e. 2,452 staff out of 2,544 concerned) and 96% of AFD and Proparco staff subject to the obligation to follow the Level 2 AML/CFT course had done so (i.e. 1,097 staff out of 1,143). These figures were 93% and 75% respectively, in 2023.

ii.      Training provided in e‑learning format on the fight against corruption and influence peddling and the management of conflicts of interest: in 2023, a set of six online training modules on several risk topics was made available to AFD

1) https://www.afd.fr/en/form/signaler‑un‑abus

and Proparco employees under the “Must” label. One of the six modules covers the fight against corruption and influence peddling and the management and handling of conflicts of interest. 97% of AFD and Proparco employees completed this module (i.e. 3,561 trained out of 3,687 concerned). In 2023, this rate was 96.6% (or 3,224 out of 3,336).

iii. Training delivered in face‑to‑face format or in webinar format on AML/CFT /sanctions and the fight against corruption: these complement the self‑training system and aim to provide employees with all the regulatory and legislative knowledge on non‑compliance they need to carry out their activities within AFD Group. As of 31 December 2024, 425 employees had been trained. These training courses are adapted to the profile of the people trained because they take into account new hires, as well as internal professional mobility at AFD Group.

2.7.6       Measures taken to prevent tax evasion

Keen to participate in the French policy to combat fraud and tax evasion as promoted by France within the framework of the G7, the G20, or the Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development (CICID),  AFD Group has, since 2009, had a rigorous policy with regard to non‑cooperative jurisdictions (NCJ) in tax matters or AML/CFT. This policy provides a framework for operations carried out and projects financed in NCJs as well as operations involving one or more NCJs and/or more broadly one or more jurisdictions considered as offshore centres.

As such, any project involving a counterparty registered in a NCJ (whether it is a fiscal NCJ or AML/CFT) is deemed to present a very high level of risk under the Group's AML/CFT risk classification. The due diligence level expected for these projects is therefore of greater granularity and involves the implementation of an upstream tax audit. When a project involves one or more fiscal NCJs or AML/CFTs, AFD Group’s policy sets out the categories of operations prohibited, authorised or eligible for Group financing as well as the specific diligence to be performed: depending on the case, the presence of fiscal NCJs may be authorised subject to conditions or strictly prohibited.

AFD Group’s NCJ policy is subject to regular updates, both as regards the list of countries concerned, and the content and methods of application of the restrictions.

In the summer of 2023, the Group overhauled its NCJ policy to provide greater clarity for the operational teams, and to ensure a more detailed assessment of tax issues in projects through a tax due diligence questionnaire.

During 2024, nearly 70 meetings took place and around thirty French parliamentary delegations met our teams and our partners, often during missions related to thematic reports, through friendship working groups or invitations from the Chief Executive Officer as part of the field missions he carries out. Parliamentarians are also strongly represented on AFD's Board of Directors and now constitute the largest group of directors (since the law of 2021).

While our relations with Parliament mainly consist in responding to requests from national elected representatives, a few events were organised at our initiative.

AFD Group also coordinates its relations with Parliament. A “parliamentarian coordination” was set up and meets monthly. Its purpose is to share information and propose various joint actions.

As is the case every year, the draft budget led the Group to meet with the official development assistance rapporteurs and to provide them with detailed information on the past year's results and the needs for the coming year. The Group’s Chief Executive Officer is interviewed each year as part of the preparation of the budget by the Foreign Affairs Committee. The Group has been on the register of interest representatives of the French High Authority for Transparency in Public Life for two years, and will be able to detail its actions for 2024 as soon as it is invited to do so.

Moreover, AFD has been registered in the European Commission's transparency register since 15 July 2013. Said register aims to improve the transparency and ethics of the European institutions ⁽¹⁾. The registration of any entity implies acceptance of a code of conduct to be followed in its relations with the EU, and has been mandatory since 1 July 2021. The idea of this transparency register is to restrict access to European officials and the exercise of certain influence and advocacy activities to registered entities.

1) Transparency register of the European Commission, Agence Française de Développement. Date of last update 04/12/2023.

2.8           A meaningful work environment

The Human Resources (HR) Department is organised around three departments, each dedicated to a major HR issue for the Group:

M a Social Policy and HR Communication Department: in charge of labour relations, social responsibility and HR communication;

M an Administration and Management Department: responsible for administrative and payroll management, social management control, HRIS, compensation and benefits;

M an Employment, Talents and Skills Department: responsible for deploying the policy in terms of recruitment and careers.

The HR Department has defined a strategy aimed at reaffirming the essential value of the Group’s human capital to achieve its strategic, operational, functional and financial objectives. Which is why the HR strategy sets “human collective performance” as its first goal.

The four strategic areas selected make it possible to align our human resources management with the Group’s challenges and to define our strategic priorities in terms of Human Resources:

1.    ensure the cohesion of employees around AFD Group’s missions. This involves prioritising actions promoting integration within the Group, supporting cultural development, strengthening our diversity and quality of life at work, the success of synergies with Expertise France and the search for improvement in our social dialogue practices;

2.    strengthen the strategic management of talent and skills, by continuously seeking the best possible balance between securing the skills that each entity needs, individual expectations in terms of careers and employability, and constraints, in particular regulatory and resource constraints;

3.    strengthen and support managerial practices in the Group with a view to performance and the development of people, employees and managers;

4.    strengthen the efficiency of the human resources function led by the HR teams, but also by all employees.

2.8.1       Skills development, employability, training

To reinforce the effectiveness of its training tool, AFD Group launched a corporate university (AFD Group Campus) in early 2024, bringing together all the teams dedicated to training, whether for AFD employees, or for partners and customers (combining internal and external offers). The positioning of this new structure in Executive Management clearly shows the eminently strategic nature that the development of the skills of its employees and partners now has for the Group.

AFD’s HR policy gives a central place to the skills development of the Group’s employees. Axis 2 of the HR strategy sets out the goal of “strategic management of talents and skills” while axis 3 highlights the “strengthening of the skills of managers to drive transformations”.

“Strategic skills management” is based on a process for drawing up the strategic training framework and the skills development plan, which this year involved various stakeholders: head office and network managers (through a questionnaire), Executive Divisions and Departments (through collective workshops), HR players and employee representatives (presentation to the SEC), training managers and business lines requesting and providing training; and used data collected and analysed by AFD Group Campus (training needs arising from professional interviews in 2024; assessment of training courses attended in 2023 and 2024 by Executive Divisions and Departments, most followed training courses). Each of these stakeholders thus has the means to ensure that its immediate operational needs are properly taken into account and also to focus the effort on an issue perceived, in the short or medium term, as strategic for the organisation. The forecasts conducted on various channels also help to inform decisions made in terms of investment in longer‑term training.

In addition to this collective involvement in the governance of the training activity, AFD promotes and encourages skills development by providing its employees with a very broad offering, including more than 250 training actions. The extent of the offering reflects the variety and multitude of skills issues that arise throughout the organisation: for a new employee who needs to familiarise himself or herself with the way AFD works, for a mobile employee who needs to acquire new skills, for a manager faced with new working methods, for a profession that is constantly forced to integrate regulatory changes, for a department that wants to maintain its level of expertise, for an employee who aspires to progress in his or her field, to adapt to an increasingly complex and uncertain environment, etc.

After the decline observed in 2020 due to the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, the training activity returned to full vitality in 2023, with an overall effort representing 66,905 hours, and continued on this trajectory with 68,562 hours in 2024 by integrating “Must” training (all categories of employees combined: general manager, national manager, VI, interns, professional training and work‑study contracts, civil servants on index and fixed‑price contracts).

Through the improvement in distance learning (apart from e‑learning – which corresponds to autonomous learning, at the learner's own pace – increasingly virtual classes are being set up, with timetables adjusted to take account of time differences) and the resumption of training courses delivered in the network ⁽¹⁾, the coverage of audiences continues to be extended. In 2024, 473 national employees⁽²⁾ (fixed‑term and permanent contracts under national law; AFD and Proparco) who were able to benefit from the training provided by AFD (excluding mandatory “Must” training courses), compared to 425 in 2023. Moreover, the roll‑out of the third mandatory training campaign represented a total of 8,887 hours in 2024 compared to 13,124 hours in 2023, due to the reduction in the duration of some modules.

In line with AFD’s major strategic commitments, training on sustainable development objectives is the subject of specific efforts. They are easily identifiable in the skills development plan, thanks to a “sustainable development”. The 2024 catalogue offers a range of 35 SD‑certified training courses covering 28 themes ⁽³⁾ (compared to 17 themes in 2023). The 57 sessions organised were attended by 902 trainees, representing a total of 9,333 hours.

Developing the skills of Expertise France staff

For Expertise France, the development of employee skills is a key factor in the Agency’s adaptation to its business challenges and the evolution of its ecosystem, and contributes to strengthening the competitiveness of operations and the employability of everyone. It is also an essential lever of the Agency’s transformation plan. Expertise France thus offers progressive career paths enabling employees to develop their know‑how, practices and postures, and provides them with methodological support.

Skills development needs are identified throughout the year and collected through several sources of information:

M the        training    guidelines discussed with         Executive Management;

M through interactions between the Human Resources Department, and more specifically the training department, and the business lines, via the collection of the training needs of the teams;

M during annual appraisal and career reviews;

M via exchanges among employees and managers.

These needs are then analysed and prioritised to build a skills development and support plan for the business lines.

The main areas of focus of Expertise France’s training policy are as follows:

M support the integration of newcomers;

M reinforce the skills of employees through the contribution of new knowledge, and the development of new expertise and working methodologies;

M support the Agency's structuring and transformation (tools, processes, etc.);

M support the professional mobility policy;

M strengthen the corporate culture by conveying common messages and organisational practices.

Training is intended for all staff categories, from their onboarding and throughout their career:

M training is a true lever for backing the Agency’s transformation plan and decentralisation project, and also contributes to the implementation of an AFD Group culture. The digitisation of training undertaken since 2020 allows a wider dissemination to all regions of intervention, to a diverse group of employees, and contributes to reinforcing knowledge and expertise.

M the digitisation strategy for training actions will be strengthened in 2025 by structuring and rolling out a training policy for field staff. This policy will clarify the management of the training activity for field staff, its accessibility, its financing and its deployment;

M the implementation of dedicated business lines (general integration path and project business line, project management methodology, monitoring, evaluation and capitalisation) contributes to structuring and aligning professional practices in our projects;

M the development of Group training offers (management workshop, language training) is a lever for the implementation of a shared Group culture.

The training efforts made by the Agency continued to grow, with an over 36% increase in training hours delivered in 2024 compared to 2023.

Expertise France now has a community of occasional in‑house trainers and is continuing to modernise and revitalise in‑house teaching content in order to develop learning methods and establish new leadership/collaboration practices based on collective intelligence.

Expertise France is fully committed to the deployment of AFD Group Campus, a structure entirely dedicated to the training of both internal and external audiences; the creation of this structure will enable Expertise France to expand its training offering and meet the skills development needs of our operational teams.

2.8.2       Social dialogue and employee relations

Social dialogue is a cornerstone of AFD Group’s policy and a driver of fairness, cohesion and commitment amongst employees. Accordingly, the Group has adopted various systems to deal with the risks inherent in employment practices, the lack of internal dialogue on social issues, as well as psychosocial risks.

The AFD (AFD and Proparco) human resources policy prioritises inclusive social dialogue. The corporate social responsibility policy ⁽¹⁾ adopted by the AFD Board of Directors in 2018, undertakes to strengthen the dialogue with all Group stakeholders and to ensure the harmonised management of human resources.

Four key principles underpin social dialogue within the Group: a constructive dialogue between management and employee representatives; respect for each person’s rights; professionalism in negotiations; and the anticipation of social issues. Accordingly, major changes planned within the Group are subject to negotiations and dialogue with trade unions and to procedures for informing and/or consulting with personnel representative bodies.

AFD does not have a branch collective agreement. The employment contracts of AFD staff under French law are governed by a common set of staff regulations. Employees recruited in local offices overseas have an employment contract governed by local staff regulations in the form of a collective agreement or internal regulations and are subject to compliance with the provisions of local law.

Social and Economic Committees are in place at all the institutions that make up the AFD (head office and five overseas departments: Reunion, Mayotte, Guyana, Martinique and Guadeloupe) as well as centrally.

The agreement relating to the operation of the institution’s SEC and of the central SEC establishes employee representation as follows:

M a head office Social and Economic Committee and five local Social and Economic Committees for the French Overseas

Departments collectively represent employees for all matters related to the company’s management, economic and financial development, organisation and working conditions, vocational training and social protection. Moreover, they organise social and cultural activities. The Social and Economic Committees also work to ensure the protection and safety of employees, to improve working conditions, and to gather and present to the company all individual and collective employee claims on the application of laws and bylaws;

M a Central Social and Economic Committee meets four times a year in ordinary sessions that bring together representatives from the six committees and handles strategic, financial and economic initiatives, as well as the social policy that affects all employees governed by French law. It may also be required to handle matters related to health, safety and working conditions at the central level.

The last professional elections were held in May 2024. Following these elections, the CGT lost its representativeness at company level (head office + overseas departments) and, to date, AFD has four representative trade unions, listed hereafter in order of representation: CFDT, Autonome FO, CFE‑CGC, and UNSA.

Moreover, a Group committee meets annually, bringing together employee representatives of AFD and its subsidiaries.

With regard to local employees, the Human Resources Department bases its approach on the Common Base, the body of values of AFD Group’s social policy, and consolidates its social dialogue with the elected members of the Committee of Representatives of Foreign States (CREE). Created in 2017, the CREE brings together personnel representatives working in AFD or Proparco agencies/offices abroad, whether employees governed by local law (permanent or temporary contract) or service providers (in States where social legislation does not allow direct employment by the Agency). Its creation is consistent with AFD’s corporate social responsibility commitments. The last elections were held in 2024.

The work carried out at the CREE covers various topics, for example:

M the introduction of a minimum contribution threshold for education in all our regions;

M the introduction of a minimum period of maternity and paternity leave;

M the introduction of a division manager bonus, thus recognising more clearly the responsibilities assumed; M the introduction of a minimum holiday period;

In 2024, discussions with the representative trade unions led to signing the following agreements: M agreement on the CET in French Guiana;

M agreement on compensation, working hours and value‑added sharing (NAO);

M agreement to promote the employment and integration of people with disabilities;

M amendment relating to the establishment of a committee of Proparco local representatives (CRPP) in the head office SEC, supplementing the agreement on the functioning of the Social and Economic Committees of establishments and the central social and Economic Committee of 6 April 2021;

M agreement on profit‑sharing for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 financial years; M agreement to support caregivers; M agreement relating to the donation of days.

In 2025, the following negotiations are planned:

M management of jobs and career paths;

M compensation, working hours and value‑added sharing

(NAO);

M quality of working conditions; M professional gender equality.

Social dialogue is active. Despite disagreements that may persist, major projects are progressing and agreements are being signed with the trade unions. However, a dispute, which began in 2022, is still under way concerning allegations of obstruction (an appeal to the Court of Cassation is under way after AFD won its case in the first and second tribunals).

Dialogue with employee representative bodies resulted in ten meetings of the Central Social and Economic Committee and 22 meetings of the head office SEC in 2024 (whereas the operating agreement of the SECs provides for only 4 and 11 ordinary meetings per year, respectively).

Equally, Expertise France has always looked to maintain high‑quality social dialogue, an essential component in promoting cohesion and a collaborative working environment, and in contributing to the company’s economic performance. As such, Expertise France respects the fundamental principles and rights of the International Labour Organization, in particular the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, and therefore considers the social partners to be indispensable relays for understanding, discussing and adapting the action plans implemented in the company.

The Agency has employee representative bodies in accordance with legal provisions, i.e. taking into account its workforce.

Thus, a Social and Economic Committee (CSE) was renewed in December 2023 for a new four‑year term of office. It includes two committees chaired by the employer:

M the Health, Safety and Working Conditions Commission (CSSCT);

M the Proximity Committee, which answers questions from staff on a bimonthly basis.

In addition, all projects affecting the overall operation of the company are regularly presented and discussed within the SEC, which meets every month.

In 2024, the SEC met 17 times to discuss topics falling within its area of legal competence (strategic orientations, social policy, working and employment conditions, and economic and financial situation, or any other project regarding changes in work organisation).

At the same time, there are four representative trade unions at Expertise France. Collective bargaining with union representatives led to the signing, in 2024, of an agreement on effective wages and working hours, and a collective profit‑sharing agreement.

2.8.3       Promotion of professional equality and diversity

2.8.3.1       Promotion of professional gender equality

Professional gender equality is a major priority in AFD Group’s human resources management policy, which aims to promote diversity and equal opportunities. It is anchored in the Group’s values and is an integral part of its corporate social responsibility approach.

A “professional equality” agreement, signed with the social partners, has been in force since January 2021. It reflects the commitment of AFD’s management and its elected officials to continue the actions to promote professional equality initiated several years ago and reaffirms their commitment to respect the principle of non‑discrimination and equal opportunities for women and men. Guaranteeing professional equality, developing diversity in jobs at all levels and in different functions, and promoting gender parity represent a source of progress and overall performance, both economically and socially. These commitments are consistent with the approach initiated by the Group in terms of its operations by making the theme of gender a lever for achieving the SDGs.

The new agreement identifies the following professional equality priorities for the Group:

M access to employment;

M promotion and professional development;

M equal pay;

M work organisation, work‑life balance;

M training and awareness‑raising on professional equality; M action in the fight against domestic violence.

AFD has thus set itself ambitious targets in these various areas.

Notably, it achieved its targets for female expatriates (more than 40%) and at the managerial level (more than 50%).

Moreover, AFD signed company agreements on caregivers and the donation of leave days in order to best support caregiver employees in their professional lives.

In addition to work conducted previously, efforts to combat gender‑based and sexual violence were continued. A system for reporting and dealing with situations that may arise has been deployed and widely communicated.

Training in discrimination‑free recruitment is compulsory for hiring managers.

AFD’s efforts concerning professional gender equality were recognised when it received the AFNOR ⁽¹⁾ label on professional equality in July 2021, which was confirmed by a mid‑cycle audit in July 2023.

AFD published its gender equality index on 1 March 2024 using 2023 data, in accordance with the law on the freedom to choose a professional future (2018). This index stood at 92 points out of 100. The pay gap between women and men has narrowed since it was 2.1% in favour of men for 2023, mainly due to the difference observed at managerial level.

Professional equality at Expertise France

Expertise France recognises the importance of professional gender equality, and strongly believes that all employees deserve fair and impartial treatment, regardless of their gender. As part of its ongoing approach to promoting gender equality, Expertise France has a set of protective measures for its employees in all areas of work, as well as legal and regulatory systems for monitoring compliance with its commitments. Thus, support for parenthood, support for female employees returning from maternity, equal access to promotion and training, and work‑life balance, are all topics covered by the Agency. Gender equality remains a cross‑cutting objective that irrigates the social policies carried out and developed by the Agency, notably the ones addressing pay and parenthood, the creation of a system for dealing with situations of harassment at work, the internal awareness‑raising actions, etc.

A so‑called “resonance” group made up of Agency employees, was set up in 2024 to provide ideas and recommendations on these themes. Moreover, every year, Expertise France publishes the results of its Professional Equality Index on its website. The Agency obtained a score of 99 out of 100 in 2024, thus demonstrating its exemplary performance in this area.

2.8.3.2       Promoting diversity within teams

The issue of diversity is at the heart of AFD Group’s action and human resources policy, with 85 local offices and 17 Regional Directorates worldwide. The teams of women and men at the head office and on the ground are diverse, plural, multicultural and multi‑generational.

AFD has been implementing a structuring approach to promote diversity and inclusion since 2019, which was recognised when it obtained the Afnor diversity label in July 2021, which was confirmed by a mid‑cycle audit in July 2023. In this context, only the direct employment rate including AFD and temporary hires is taken into account for the calculation of the employment rate. Thus, people with disabilities represented 4.06% of the total headcount in 2023. It is therefore in this context that AFD has continued its actions: awareness‑raising,

1) Association française de normalisation.

training, use of an external listening unit, participation in an inclusion barometer. A discrimination risk map was drawn up by a specialist consultancy to analyse all HR processes and ensure that they do not give rise to any discrimination risks, even indirect ones.

In November 2024, Mission Handicap proposed various initiatives, as part of the European Week for the Employment of People with Disabilities: participation in the Paris Employment Fair, facilitation around a game broadcast by Agefiph, stands at the various Parisian sites of AFD Group, communication on the new Disability agreement. This agreement, signed in May 2024, aims to promote the employment of people with disabilities.

Work is being carried out in conjunction with AFD’s existing collectives (Monde en communes, Pride, Aidants, Kult4D). In this context, the HR Department backed a mentoring programme provided by Monde en communes, offering women the opportunity to be assisted in their professional development and their position at work by a more experienced colleague. In 2024, this mentoring programme benefited from workshops led by a coach working with pairs of women (mentees/mentors).

AFD, which signed the l'Autre Cercle charter in June 2022, continued its commitment to the inclusion of LGBT+ people.

The partnership with the Article 1 association aims to promote the professional integration of young people through coaching, mentoring and workshops.

The management training programme includes a section dedicated to discrimination, diversity and inclusion, as well as a component on raising awareness of harassment and gender‑based violence.

At the end of 2024, the Campus conducted a reflection on ordinary sexism, with a view to designing a training course for managers.

A benchmark on diversity issues was carried out in the last quarter of 2024, and contacts were made with the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion managers of various institutions and partners (World Bank, KfW, EIB, EBRD, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CDC, BEI, IDB) aimed at learning from each other on these topics.

Issues related to single parenthood and its impacts on the professional lives of the people concerned were the subject of reflection at the HR Department, with a view to discussions with union representatives to better take these situations into account in their diversity.

Promoting equal treatment with respect for diversity at all stages of human resources management is also at the heart of Expertise France’s commitments. Aware that diversity is an asset for the Company’s sustainable performance, the Agency works to combat discrimination, and endeavours to promote inclusion and equal opportunities.

Expertise France recognises the importance of professional gender equality and strongly believes that all employees deserve fair and impartial treatment regardless of their gender. As part of its ongoing approach to promoting gender equality, Expertise France has a set of protective measures for its employees in all areas of work, as well as legal and regulatory systems for monitoring compliance with its commitments. Thus, support for parenthood, support for female employees returning from maternity, equal access to promotion and training, and work‑life balance, are all topics covered by the Agency. Gender equality remains a cross‑cutting objective that permeates the social policies carried out and developed by the company, in particular the ones addressing pay and parenthood, the creation of a system for dealing with situations of harassment at work, the internal awareness‑raising actions.

Furthermore, every year, Expertise France publishes the results of its Professional Equality Index on its website, results which highlight its exemplary performance in this area.

With regard to disability integration, the Human Resources Department has a Disability Officer who implements a series of actions.

2.8.4       Quality of employee working conditions and safety

 AFD Group strives to ensure high‑quality working conditions and the safety of individuals.

The health crisis has led to a profound change in operating methods, particularly with the considerable development of remote working. This required significant efforts to adapt and support staff. All actions were aimed at preserving the safety of people, avoiding the occurrence of any risks and developing well‑being at work.

2.8.4.1      Quality of working conditions

In terms of quality of life at work, AFD continued to implement the agreement signed in 2020. The Human Resources Department maintained its efforts to deploy psychosocial risk prevention systems, support for difficult situations and optimise the functioning of the unit monitoring suffering at work. All internal and external prevention players (managers, HR managers, social partners, occupational health services, psychologists, the mediator) were mobilised to provide the best possible support to all employees.

A new system for reporting and handling situations of moral harassment, discrimination and gender‑based and sexual violence was implemented. A generic mailbox is accessible to all employees of the head office and the network and a processing process was defined, committing to not leaving any situation unanswered. Communication actions aimed at highlighting this system were carried out.

The risks in relation to remote working were regularly identified and the DUERP (Single Occupational Risk Assessment Document) was updated accordingly and presented to the social partners.

A new agreement on teleworking was signed and implemented as of 1 June 2023. This new innovative system provides for an annual fixed rate of teleworking days and the definition of teleworking charters within each structure. These charters aim to lay the foundations for an efficient and smooth collective operation for all.

As workload is regularly mentioned as a risk factor, the Human Resources Department has designed, in collaboration with the department in charge of internal transformation, a workload assessment and regulation tool. The working environment can now be analysed, which serves as a basis for team discussions to define an action plan. This tool is gradually being rolled out at structures that wish to reflect on their mode of operation. In addition, an approach aimed at optimising the effectiveness of meetings at AFD was implemented by proposing a common methodology for meeting facilitation.

In 2024, an agreement for caregivers was signed. It aims to provide caregiver employees with support measures and systems to give them the means to preserve their professional activity and make their daily lives easier. Equally, an agreement on the donation of leave days was signed in order to provide employees, notably caregivers who need them, with additional days of rest thanks to a solidarity fund.

Significant work was carried out to redesign the Guide for caregiver employees. It aims to better understand and highlight all the support systems that exist to meet the needs of fellow caregivers.

Actions to develop social cohesion and employee commitment are also implemented. "Random lunches", intended to promote discussion, meet new colleagues and share the knowledge of the various entities, are held every month.

The Sports and Cultural Association of the SEC also actively participates in the development of social cohesion through the many sports and cultural activities offered. Through its actions, the SCA greatly promotes staff meetings and social cohesion. 816 employees took part in SCA activities in 2024.

A special effort was made to promote soft mobility. The sustainable mobility package (FMD) was implemented and significantly increased so that AFD's contribution to the cost of soft mobility is equivalent to the cost of public transport.

Action plans aimed at improving quality of life at work, as part of the social barometer launched in 2023, were continued within the various executive departments. These discussions informed the definition of the Cap 27 corporate plan, notably as part of the “Working together better” programme.

2.8.4.2     Staff security

The security of AFD Group's people and property is based on several internal policies and texts which have been regularly updated since 2021 to take account of changes at the Group; in particular the General Crisis Management Plan was validated at the end of 2023 and the Agency Security Policy (PSAG) was validated at the end of 2024. These texts cover activities in France and abroad (Group security policy [PSEC] – local office security policy); they are brought to the attention of all Group employees and representatives and can be consulted on the Group’s intranet.

In addition, the Group has an international security management system, led by the department in charge of safety, which is regularly audited by AFD’s General Inspection Department. This system, pursuant to the international security risk prevention strategy (2017), positions the Regional Directorates at the heart of the system. This makes it possible to better take into account the diversity of security situations in the network,and to have a system that is as adapted as possible to the security situations concerned, guaranteeing responsiveness in the event of an incident, whatever its severity.

In addition to the security standards and the process to secure travel abroad – updated in 2023 for a better understanding of our local offices – AFD has deployed human resources exclusively devoted to network backup. Regional security advisors, some of whom are located within the Regional Directorates (one with the Greater Sahel Regional Directorate in Dakar and the other with the Middle East Regional Directorate in Amman) – are available to the Regional Directorates at all times to ensure constant vigilance on security and to dynamically adapt local means of protection. Security advisors also help to strengthen the safety culture in the field and take part in AFD’s crisis units.

The security lead located at the head office coordinates the entire system and ensures it is consistent across the Board. It sets up a permanent monitoring system based on a regular monitoring unit, which meets every two months.

Since 2022, the security training and awareness‑raising efforts have been stepped up at the head office and in the network. All newly‑arrived employees are made aware of AFD's security issues and how the protection measures they use work on a daily basis; special attention is paid to international volunteers in administration (VIA) who generally have less field experience. The regional directors were systematically trained in their specific responsibilities in terms of security.

In order to raise staff awareness of international security risks, the department in charge of security has introduced a series of compulsory e‑learning sessions prior to any departure on mission: depending on the risk in the AFD staff member's destination region, the traveller will have to follow one or more modules containing simulated situations.

Since December 2023, following the change of publisher for the travel tracking solution, travellers must now follow three modules:

M travel to low‑risk countries: 722 employees validated this module in 2024;

M travel to countries of proven risk: 612 employees validated this module in 2024;

M travel to high‑risk countries: 316 employees validated this module in 2024.

In addition, AFD strengthened its “mission risk management” training system (Hostile Environment Awareness Training): sessions organised in France, mainly via specialised trainers, made it possible to train:

M a total of 241 employees in 2024, i.e. twice as many as in 2023;

M 179 employees at the head office;

M 62 employees in the network over 15 sessions.

In addition to the traditional security crisis management system, AFD strengthened its EBCP (Emergency and Business Continuity Plan) following the Covid‑19 health crisis. This plan is intended to ensure the continuation of business in the aftermath of a disaster of low likelihood but with critical impact. AFD’s continuity system covers four perfectly identified types of claims: the total or partial unavailability of one of the Parisian offices (AFD or Proparco); the simultaneous unavailability of the two Paris offices; the unavailability of the hosted information system; and the unavailability of a significant portion of the Group’s staff.

All these provisions relating to employee health were discussed at length with the employee representative bodies and included in the Single Occupational Risk Assessment Document (DUERP) updated in November 2024.

Security at Expertise France

The main mission of the Operational Security Department is to ensure the security of the activities carried out by Expertise France across its field of activity. This includes the protection of people and assets and the preservation of operational continuity. To achieve this objective the Operational Security Department implements global security strategies, develops anticipation and response plans, ensures the deployment of specific security measures, and works closely with the various operational units. In addition, the Operational Security Department ensures an effective chain of command, promoting the decentralisation of the organisation on the ground and subsidiarity in decision‑making. It also provides ongoing staff training and crisis management, and contributes to innovation in relation to security.

Employee safety is a major concern at Expertise France. To ensure their protection and minimise the risks to which they may be exposed, several essential obligations have been identified. These obligations are implemented collectively and form the basis of the mission of the Operational Security Department.

The obligations of Expertise France in terms of security are as follows:

a. Training is one of the pillars of the safety approach. We are committed to providing our employees with the knowledge and skills necessary to address the specific risks they may face. This includes raising awareness of risk situations, and training in safety procedures, first aid and emergency management. In 2024, 379 people were trained over 21 sessions organised (nine ‘Level 2 Field Safety’" sessions and

12 “Level 1 Field Safety” sessions);

b.   Information also plays a fundamental role in our security approach. Expertise France’s Operational Security Department provides clear, precise and up‑to‑date information on the risks and security measures to be adopted. This enables our employees to understand the specificities of their working environment and to take appropriate precautions;

c.   Operational support and technical support are a central requirement in the security process. With its extensive expertise in the security challenges of our regions of operation, the Operational Security Department must be mobilised from the initial phase of the project construction process (security support meeting, preparation of the security budget, technical support). The provision of this expertise is continuous and comprehensive;

d.   The monitoring obligation : in order to have an accurate and up‑to‑date understanding of the staff and the location of our deployed or missionary personnel. This obligation involves maintaining an effective tracking system that allows us to know the whereabouts of our employees at all times. This includes regularly updating information on their location, planned travel, site changes, holidays and returns. By knowing the location of our employees at all times, we are able to react quickly where necessary, to coordinate security operations and to take appropriate measures to ensure their protection;

e.   Anticipation is also a key element of our security approach. We strive to anticipate potential risks by continuously assessing the environments in which we operate. This includes security monitoring to keep abreast of developments, trends and events that could have an impact on the safety of our employees, as well as security planning to develop preventive strategies and action plans;

f.    Intervention. In the event of an incident or emergency, the Operational Security Department is tasked with responding quickly and effectively with the operational staff concerned. We have clear procedures and response mechanisms to ensure the security of our employees and take appropriate

measures in most crisis situations;

g.   Capitalisation. Capitalisation and feedback are an essential obligations of the security approach. We continually learn from our past experiences and strive to improve our security measures by building on the lessons learned.

2.8.4.3       Management of specific digital risks

The risks related to malicious acts that could affect the information systems are a permanent concern for AFD. To control them, AFD has set up a management system based on two lines of defence. Cybersecurity governance is entrusted to the Security Department, which is responsible for ensuring proper risk management and supporting IT developments in terms of cybersecurity. Day‑to‑day operations, incident management and technical developments related to cybersecurity are entrusted to the IT systems department. This organisation and the associated resources are governed by the Information System Security Policy (ISSP) validated by AFD’s Executive Management and approved by its Board of Directors. The implementation of this ISSP is regularly checked and audited as part of AFD’s internal control. The measurement of the effectiveness of the ISS system is reported through the risk appetite framework.

In addition to recurring IT security actions, in 2022, AFD adopted its new Information System Security (IS) master plan for the next five years. This highly ambitious programme will enable AFD to safeguard its ambitions of digital openness towards its customers, beneficiaries and partners.

With regard to the management of risks relating to the protection of personal data, the system implemented is as follows:

M a Personal Data Protection Officer, assisted by a full‑time assistant, pooled to manage the Group’s compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and all other personal data protection regulations applicable at our local offices, as well as a network of focal points and an IT tool to facilitate this management (notably mapping of data processing and monitoring of compliance projects) and to conduct monitoring internationally;

M a data protection governance based on an internal policy and procedures governing the procedures for monitoring compliance, the management of data breaches and requests from the persons concerned;

M regular awareness‑raising and training, including mandatory e‑learning for all employees, as well as guides, models, etc.;

M in 2024, 3,831 users (internal and external) of the AFD/ Proparco IS completed the two e‑learning training courses relating to cyber security

M regular second‑level controls (Data Protection Officer [DPO] and permanent control) and third level (internal audit).

2.8.5          The ethics system and mediation

AFD Group is well aware of the strong demands associated with its public service mission in the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities as well as in Foreign States, and in 2004 decided to put in place an ethics system. This consists of a Charter, an Ethics Board and an Advisor.

Written in 2004, updated in 2012 and revised in 2022, the Ethics Charter merged with Expertise France Charter to create a Group Charter that was signed by the three Chief Executive Officers (AFD, Proparco, Expertise France) on 15 April 2022. It sets a common ambition, behavioural benchmarks and commitments consistent with its threefold status as a public institution, a financial institution and a development agency. The Charter “aims to reinforce the identity, unity and performance of the Group […] and also to protect the Group and its employees against any reputational risk” (Article 1). It applies to all Group employees, regardless of their profession, hierarchical position, assignment or status. It promotes commitment, integrity, openness, adaptability and respect as the Group’s five key values (Articles 11 to 16). A copy of the Charter is given to new recruits when they sign their employment contract.

The Ethics Committee was replaced in June 2022 by an Ethics Board, with a different role and composition, as part of the new guidelines relating to the ethics system implemented in 2022 at Group level. These guidelines, which clarify the place of ethics alongside the compliance function, emphasise the links between ethics and individual and collective questioning around our values and our rules.

The representative and independent Ethics Board is invited to clarify, through Ethics Dialogue, certain sensitive issues for the attention of the Group as a whole.

The ten members of the Ethics Board were appointed in August 2022 after being chosen at random from among the Group's employees (AFD, Proparco, Expertise France) as follows: six women/four men, eight executives/two non‑executives, seven head office employees/three network employees, seven AFD employees/two Expertise France employees, one Proparco employee.

Over 2024, the Ethics Board met four times remotely on 14 February, 26 April, 21 June and 29 November, and once in person at its annual seminar from 25 to 27 September 2024.

It organised an internal poll  entitled “the Group operates in countries where human rights are not respected: for whom and why is this a dilemma?” sent to the Group in January 2024. This questionnaire received 316 responses (82% from AFD employees, 10% from Proparco employees and 7% from EF employees; over a third of the total number of participants were network employees).

It led an “Ethics” workshop on 8 January on the theme: “With or without a Colonial past: what does that change?”. It organised two “Ethics Cafés” where discussions feed into the Ethics Board’s reflections and contribute to its proposals and recommendations, on topics such as: “When we can no longer intervene: what to think, what to understand, how to act?” (in hybrid format on 21 March), or “Do you have ethical questions in the context of your activity? The members of the Ethics Board are waiting for you in order to present their work and their challenges, and to respond to any questions you might have” (in hybrid format on 27 September).

The Ethics Advisor runs training and awareness‑raising sessions for new employees, international volunteers or staff soon to be posted within the network. She led 23 internal sessions on ethics and mediation in 2024, reaching 410 AFD employees working at AFD or Proparco, both at head office and in the network ⁽¹⁾. These sessions are organised according to the on‑boarding pathways for newcomers, which explains the changes in the figures from one year to another.

As regards the network, its interventions are made by videoconference or as part of assignments. In 2024, an assignment to an agency was carried out by the external mediator during which she led a training course on “Understanding each other in the workplace”.

Three podcast episodes hosted by members of the Ethics Board were made in June: Episode 1 “How to act in countries where human rights are not respected?”; Episode 2 “What to do if I don't agree… and if it's a political order?”; Episode 3 “Officials governed by French law and local employees: what ethical issue?”.

The Ethics Advisor participated in a workshop on Ethics and authoritarian countries in January 2024. She welcomes, listens and gives confidential advice to all head office and network employees who wish to talk about a problem or have a question about ethics (51 consultations in 2024 ⁽²⁾). A decrease was observed in the number of consultations compared to the previous two years; this was partly due to the multiplication of “ethics cafes” where employees were able to discuss the subjects that caused them problems, which limited the need for bilateral consultations.

The Ethics Advisor meets regularly with the Executive Management of the Group's three entities and with the members of the Executive Committee. In addition, she oversees AFD’s environmental and social complaints management system, which is managed by a Secretariat located within the Strategy Department. Her role is to ensure the independence of the system and take into account the protection of the claimant, where applicable.

Lastly, since January 2019, the Ethics Advisor has been the entry point for the Group’s whistleblowing system, which now includes Expertise France (since 2022).

Since September 2020, the ethics function has been performed jointly with that of internal mediator.

Through its positive and constructive educational methodology, the ethics approach strives to be attractive and engaging, and seeks to sharpen individual and collective questioning as well as everyone’s responsibility in understanding and implementing the Group’s values.

1) 38 sessions on ethics and mediation (including 12 in the network) were conducted in 2023, reaching 726 employees. 2) 136 consultations in 2018, 184 in 2019, 112 in 2020, 44 in 2021, 87 in 2022 and 84 in 2023.

Report of one of the Statutory Auditors, appointed as an independent third party, on the verification of the consolidated nonfinancial statement

2.9    Report of one of the Statutory Auditors, appointed as an independent third party, on the verification of the consolidated nonfinancial statement

Year ended December 31 2024

This is a free English translation of the Statutory Auditor’s report issued in French and is provided solely for the convenience of Englishspeaking readers. This report should be read in conjunction with, and construed in accordance with, French law and professional standards applicable in France.

To the Board of Directors,

In our capacity as Statutory Auditor of your company (hereinafter the “Entity”) appointed as independent third party, and accredited by the French Accreditation Committee (COFRAC) under number 31884, we have undertaken a limited assurance engagement on the historical information (observed or extrapolated) in the consolidated nonfinancial statement, prepared in accordance with the entity’s procedures (hereinafter the "Guidelines"), for the year ended December 31, 2024 (hereinafter, the "Information" and the "Statement" respectively), presented in the Group’s management report pursuant to the legal and regulatory provisions of Articles L. 225 1021, R. 225105 and R. 2251051 of the French Commercial Code (code de commerce).

Conclusion

Based on the procedures we performed as described under the "Nature and scope of procedures" paragraph and the evidence we obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the consolidated nonfinancial statement is not prepared in accordance with the applicable regulatory provisions and that the Information, taken as a whole, is not presented fairly in accordance with the Guidelines, in all material respects..

Preparation of the nonfinancial performance statement

The absence of a commonly used generally accepted reporting framework or of a significant body of established practices on which to draw to evaluate and measure the Information allows for different, but acceptable, measurement techniques that can affect comparability between entities and over time. Consequently, the Information needs to be read and understood together with the Guidelines, summarized in the Statement and available on the Entity’s website or on request from its headquarters Responsibility of the entity

Management of the entity is responsible for:

M selecting or establishing suitable criteria for preparing the Information,

M preparing a Statement pursuant to legal and regulatory provisions, including a presentation of the business model, a description of the main nonfinancial risks, a presentation of the policies implemented considering those risks and the outcomes of said policies, including key performance indicators,

M preparing the Statement by applying the entity’s “Guidelines” as referred above, and designing, implementing, and maintaining internal control over information relevant to the preparation of the Information that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

The Statement has been prepared by the Board of Directors.

Report of one of the Statutory Auditors, appointed as an independent third party, on the verification of the consolidated nonfinancial statement

Responsibility of the Statutory Auditor, appointed as independent third party

Based on our work, our responsibility is to provide a report expressing a limited assurance conclusion on:

M the compliance of the Statement with the requirements of &rticle R. 225‑105 of the French Commercial Code

M the fairness of the historical information (observed or extrapolated) provided pursuant to part 3 of sections I and II of Article R. 225‑105 of the French Commercial Code, i.e., the outcomes of policies, including key performance indicators, and measures relating to the main risks.

As we are engaged to form an independent conclusion on the Information as prepared by management, we are not permitted to be involved in the preparation of the Information as doing so may compromise our independence.

It is not our responsibility to report on:

M the entity’s compliance with other applicable legal and regulatory provisions, M the compliance of products and services with applicable regulations.

Applicable regulatory provisions and professional guidance

We performed the work described below in accordance with Articles A. 2251 et seq. of the French Commercial Code, the professional guidance issued by the French Institute of Statutory Auditors (Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes) applicable to such engagements, in particular the professional guidance issued by the Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes, “Intervention du commissaire aux comptes - Intervention de l’OTI - Déclaration de performance extrafinancière”, acting as the verification program, and with the international standard ISAE 3000 (revised)  ⁽¹⁾.

Independence and quality control

Our independence is defined by the provisions of Article L. 82128 of the French Commercial Code and the French Code of Ethics for Statutory Auditors (Code de déontologie) of our profession. In addition, we have implemented a system of quality control including documented policies and procedures aimed at ensuring compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, ethical requirements and the professional guidance issued by the French Institute of Statutory Auditors (Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes) relating to this engagement

Means and resources

Our work involved the skills of four people and took place between November 2024 and April 2025, with a total intervention duration of three weeks.

We engaged our specialists in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility to assist us in our work. We conducted about ten interviews with the individuals responsible for preparing the Statement.

Nature and scope of procedures

We are required to plan and perform our work to address the areas where we have identified that a material misstatement of the information is likely to arise.

The procedures we performed were based on our professional judgment. In carrying out our limited assurance engagement on the information:

M We obtained an understanding of all the consolidated entities’ activities, and the description of the main related risks;

M We assessed the suitability of the criteria of the Guidelines with respect to their relevance, completeness, reliability, neutrality and understandability, taking into account, where appropriate, best practices within the sector;

M We verified that the Statement includes each category of social and environmental information set out in article L. 2251021 III of the French Commercial Code, and includes, where applicable, an explanation for the absence of the information required under article L. 2251021 III, paragraph 2 of the French Commercial Code;

M We verified that the Statement provides the information required under article R. 225105 II of the French Commercial Code, where relevant with respect to the main risks;

1) ISAE 3000 (revised) - Assurance engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information

Report of one of the Statutory Auditors, appointed as an independent third party, on the verification of the consolidated nonfinancial statement

M We verified that the Statement presents the business model and a description of main risks associated with all the consolidated entities’ activities, including where relevant and proportionate, the risks associated with its business relationships, products or services, as well as policies, measures and the outcomes thereof, including key performance indicators related to the main risks,

M We referred to documentary sources and conducted interviews to

M assess the process used to identify and confirm the main risks as well as the consistency of the outcomes, including the key performance indicators used, with respect to the main risks and the policies presented,

M corroborate the qualitative information (measures and outcomes) that we considered to be the most important presented in the Appendices. Our work was carried out at the consolidating entity’s headquarters

M We verified that the Statement covers the consolidated scope, i.e. all the entities within the consolidation scope in accordance with Article L. 23316 of the French Commercial Code, within the limitations set out in the Statement;

M We obtained an understanding of internal control and risk management procedures the entity implemented, and assessed the data collection process aimed at ensuring the completeness and fairness of the Information;

M For the key performance indicators and other quantitative outcomes that we considered to be the most important, presented in the Appendices, we implemented:

M analytical procedures to verify the proper consolidation of the data collected and the consistency of any changes in those data,

M tests of details, using sampling techniques, in order to verify the proper application of definitions and procedures and reconcile the data with supporting documents. This work was carried out at the entity’s headquarters and covers between 100% of the consolidated data relating to the key performance indicators and outcomes selected for these tests;

M We assessed the overall consistency of the Statement based on our knowledge of all the consolidated entities’ activities.

The procedures performed in a limited assurance review are less in extent than for a reasonable assurance opinion in accordance with the professional guidance of the French Institute of Statutory Auditors (Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes), a higher level of assurance would have required us to carry out more extensive procedures.

Paris la Défense, le 23 avril 2025 KPMG S.A.

Valéry Foussé

Partner

Report of one of the Statutory Auditors, appointed as an independent third party, on the verification of the consolidated nonfinancial statement

       Appendix                                                                                         

Qualitative information (activities and results) considered to be the most important

Group policy on personal and property safety

Equal opportunity policies and results

Employee skills development policy

Long‑term scenario analysis tool to support project management

Corruption risk assessment procedure for suppliers

Awards received for the Group’s commitment to transparency

Systems in place to ensure proximity to customers

Partnership actions for European aid

Sustainable development rating systems for Group projects

Biodiversity roadmap

Raising employee awareness of human rights issues in the context of Group activities

Integration of citizen participation in project construction

Support and capacity‑building for customers and counterparties to integrate the SDGs into their own practices

Key performance indicators and other quantitative results considered most important

Workforce at 31/12 and breakdown by gender

Number of e‑learning "safety" training sessions

Number of face‑to‑face safety training sessions and number of participants

Overall training effort

Social barometer indicator of well‑being at work

Number of sustainable development training courses attended

Greenhouse gas emissions avoided

Number of consultations with ethics advisor

Percentage of sovereign and non‑sovereign financing published in IATI format

Number and amounts of AFD projects subject to environmental and social risk assessments Number and amount of Proparco projects subject to environmental and social risk assessments Number of claims received by the claims management mechanism Financing volume marked CAD1 and CAD2

Workforce at 31/12 and breakdown by gender

Number of e‑learning "safety" training sessions

                                                                                                          3.2.1      Compensation policy governance                            107

                                                                                                          3.2.2      Main features of the compensation policy                107

3.2.3   Information on the compensation of executive directors and persons whose

professional activities have a significant

                                                                                                                        impact on the company's risk profile                        112

3.1        Report on corporate governance

This report on corporate governance was prepared by the Board of Directors pursuant to the last paragraph of Article L.225‑37 of the French Commercial Code.

3.1.1              Separation of the functions of Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer

In accordance with the transposition of the European Parliament and Council directive 2013/36/EU of 26 June 2013 (“CRD IV”) by

Order No. 2014‑158 of 20 February 2014, by Decree No. 2014‑1315 of 3 November 2014 and by Decree No. 2014‑1316 of 3 November 2014, AFD, as a financing company, separates the functions of Chairperson of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

At 31 December 2024, Executive Management ⁽¹⁾ was as follows:

                                             AFD position appointment                                                       Other mandates and positions

Chief Executive Officer: Rémy Rioux

A Senior Member of the Auditor General’s Department, Rémy Rioux has held positions in France in the service of development and of Africa.

As Director of the Office of the French Minister of the Economy,

Finance and External Trade from 2012 to 2014, he took part in the work to consolidate the public accounts and on the competitiveness of the French economy.

In 2014, he was appointed Deputy General Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development. He was at the heart of economic diplomacy policy. He also coordinated the “finance” agenda for the French presidency of COP21, up to the final negotiation of the Paris Climate Agreement.

In June 2016, he was appointed to the management of the Agence Française de Développement Group and was reappointed for a second term in 2019 and a third term in 2022. He also chaired the International Development Finance Club from 2017 to 2023, and currently serves as its Vice‑President.

Chief Operating Officer: Marie‑Hélène Loison

Marie‑Hélène Loison is a graduate of the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and of the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC.

She began her career in 1996 at Société Générale, in export financing. She joined the AFD Group in 2000, at Proparco, AFD’s subsidiary in charge of private sector financing, initially as an account manager to structure financing in the agribusiness, health and tourism sectors. She then joined the equity team, of which she became the head in 2008 in order to structure and develop its activity. In 2011, she became Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Proparco in charge of operations, at the head of a department of around a hundred people in France and abroad. There, she developed the activity, reviewed the strategy and contributed to a capital increase of €200M.

In 2015, she joined AFD as Director for the Mediterranean, overseeing a network of local offices in eight countries of operation. She initiated the development of activities in the Western Balkans and adapted activities in the Middle East in response to the Syrian crisis. She was appointed Executive Operations Director in September 2018, managing 1,500 people in charge of approximately €10bn in loans per year. There, she notably oversaw the creation of 17 Regional Directorates to decentralise management.

She took up her duties as Chief Operating Officer on 8 July 2021.

Chief Operating Officer: Bertrand Walckenaer

Bertrand Walckenaer, who took up his position as Deputy Chief Executive Officer on 8 July 2021, had been, since February 2019, Chief Operating Officer of Agence Française de Développement. He was previously Head of the cabinet of the Secretary of State under the Finance Minister. Prior to that, he spent ten years at the Treasury (between 2005 and 2017), where he held a range of business‑related positions: industrial restructuring, financing of aerospace exports, monitoring of foreign investments. He also represented the State on the Boards of Directors of Bpifrance, La Poste and CNP Assurances in 2016 and 2017. During this period, he spent two years at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (2014‑2016), as vice head of the cabinet of the Secretary of State for Foreign Trade. Finally, for one year Bertrand Walckenaer was technical director at the Pouma bush hospital in Cameroon (2010). He is a graduate of AgroParisTech and an international affairs graduate of Université Paris‑Dauphine.

3.1.2         Executive Committee

Members of AFD’s Executive Committee are appointed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In 2023, in addition to Rémy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer, the following people are members of the Executive Committee:

M the Chief Operating Officer (COO): Marie‑Hélène Loison;

M the Chief Operating Officer (COO): Bertrand Walckenaer;

M the Geographies Executive Director: Philippe Orliange;

M the Sustainable Development Solutions Executive Director:

Laurent Biddiscombe;

M the General Secretariat Executive Director: Sylvie Boyer;

M the Finance Department Executive Director: Bokar Cherif;

M the Human Resources Executive Director: Julien Seillan;

M the Chief Risk Officer: Dominique Heurtevent;

M the Compliance Executive Director: Anne Muxart;

M the Strategy, Partnerships and Communication Executive Director: Papa Amadou Sarr;

M the Innovation, Strategy and Research Executive Director:

Thomas Melonio;

M the Chief Executive Officer of Proparco: Françoise Lombard;

M the Chief Executive Officer of Expertise France: Jérémie

Pellet;

M the Head of the General Inspection Department: François Parmantier.

3.1.3         The Board of Directors

3.1.3.1       Composition of the Board of Directors

In accordance with Article R.515‑17 of the French Monetary and Financial Code, the Board of Directors includes the following members, aside from its Chairperson:

M five members representing the French State;

M four members appointed for their expertise in economic and financial matters;

M one member appointed for his expertise in ecological and sustainable development issues;

M one member appointed for their expertise in migration matters;

M four members of Parliament (two deputies and two senators);

M two elected representatives of AFD’s staff.

Each member of the Board of Directors can be substituted by an alternate, who is appointed under the same conditions as the permanent member, in the event of a scheduling conflict or absence.

The Chairperson of the Board of Directors is appointed by presidential decree based on the report of the French Minister in charge of the Economy, the French Minister in charge of Cooperation, the French Minister in charge of the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities and the French Minister in charge of Immigration. The age limit applicable to the Chairperson of the Board of Directors is 70 years of age. He or she casts the deciding vote in the event of a tie. If the Chairperson is absent, he or she is replaced by the eldest of the State representatives.

Members of the Board of Directors have a three‑year term.

However, the term on the Board of Directors of members of Parliament ends when they cease to be members of the assemblies to which they were elected. Members of the Board of Directors are not paid.

AFD strives to better meet the principle of balanced representation of women and men on the Board, in particular when appointing directors. At the end of December 2024, there were 34 members, including 25 who had been duly appointed (14 permanent and 11 alternate), 13 were women (six permanent and seven alternate directors), representing 43% of the permanent positions.

At 31 December 2024, the Board of Directors had the following members:

Term on

 the Board                 Current position Director                     appointment                       Address        Other offices held

Persons appointed because of their expertise in economic and financial matters (4)

Jean‑Jacques          Permanent            BNP Paribas Group

Santini                   29/09/2023           16, boulevard des Italiens

                                                         75009 Paris

Executive Advisor to the Chairman and the Executive Management

M Vice‑President of the National Committee of French Foreign Trade Advisors, member of the Executive Board and director

M Vice‑President of the Fonds de Garantie des Dépôts et des Resolutions and Chairperson of its Audit Committee

M Director and Chairperson of the Audit Committee and the Risk Management Committee of Agence Française de Développement M Director of Aspen France

M Chairperson of the Board of Directors of BNP Paribas El Djezair

(Algeria)

Term on

                                     the Board                                                                                            Current position

        Director                          appointment                Address                                                       Other offices held

Person appointed because of his/her knowledge of ecological and sustainable development issues (1)