KfW Development Bank in 2020

* Differences in the totals are due to rounding

* Differences in the totals are due to rounding

A total of EUR 250 million went to support projects in the healthcare sector. Materials to combat the pandemic (protective equipment, respirators, tests and lab equipment) was purchased in the approximate amount of EUR 104 million. In India, for instance, EUR 15 million was provided through UNICEF in order to procure urgently needed medical equipment. This enabled the purchase of around 328,000 COVID-19 tests, more than 3,000 oxygen concentrators and protective equipment for 6,000 healthcare employees within a very short space of time. An additional EUR 15 million was offered in a second phase to prepare for the national vaccination campaign. This included improving the vaccine cold chain by financing around 1,000 refrigerators and freezers throughout the country. Moreover, the purchase of equipment for conducting PCR tests at 30 locations has expanded COVID-19 test capacities across the country.

India: Day labourers left with nothing

KfW supports preparations for COVID-19 vaccination campaign in India

KfW Development Bank provided EUR 91 million in 2020 to secure access to and the availability of food during the coronavirus pandemic. These funds were used to finance cash transfers or shopping vouchers as a means of compensating loss of income and thus ensuring basic necessities for those particularly affected by poverty. KfW also supported small-scale farmers and small agricultural enterprises with the funds. This mitigated the negative impact of the restricted movement of goods and workers, while also securing food production.

Rapid COVID-19 support to Zambia

KfW Development Bank helped to meet the needs of refugees and others in the context of fragility and conflict in 2020 through its coronavirus aid commitments totalling EUR 347 million in funding for 44 projects. These population groups have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The risk of infection is particularly high in cramped living conditions and even the most basic of hygiene rules cannot be observed where there is no running water. Refugees often have no access to the healthcare system of the host country.

Turkey: Teachers for Syrian refugee children

In 2020, KfW Development Bank supported 13 projects under the coronavirus immediate aid programme – with very different approaches – by providing around EUR 555 million. The primary objective was to secure jobs and income in particularly hard hit countries and sectors, and also to ensure basic necessities for those particularly affected by poverty, such as through direct cash transfers. Credit lines were granted to SME banks in order to quickly provide low-interest loans to micro-enterprises that were severely affected. Fast alternative sources of income as well as long-term employment opportunities are created by financing labour-intensive municipal infrastructure and through measures in the context of cross-border protection area programmes.

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In cooperation with various financial intermediaries in the partner countries, such as commercial banks, development banks and specialised credit institutions, measures are being implemented under the coronavirus emergency aid programme that secure the continued existence of enterprises – and jobs, reduce operating costs and support the supply of liquidity to the economy. Around EUR 1.2 billion was committed for 17 projects in 2020.

BCIE coronavirus emergency aid programme signed

The global coronavirus pandemic has shaken developing countries to their foundations. Production, exports and not least tourism have seen a sharp decline. Currencies have lost significant value.

National tax revenues in Africa alone are expected to decrease by 20-30 percent. The UN expects income loss totalling USD 220 billion in developing countries and emerging economies. Moreover, it estimates that almost USD 100 billion in capital has been withdrawn from developing countries and emerging economies since the outbreak of COVID-19 in February 2020. That figure is almost three times as much as after the global financial crisis of 2008. Capital outflows and the slump in export income will further exacerbate the debt problems of many developing countries, threatening them with insolvency and incapacity.

KfW Development Bank assisted its partner countries with around EUR 1.6 billion in 2020 in order to provide liquidity to establish their healthcare infrastructure, support their economies, maintain supply chains, and provide macroeconomic stabilisation. More policy-based reform financing was offered to this end.

Support to Morocco in the COVID-19 pandemic

Climate mainstreaming was introduced in the KfW Development Bank business area in 2020. This involves analysis of climate effects and risks at an early conceptual stage for all projects; these are then systematically incorporated into the project design.

In the period 2016-2020, i.e. since adoption of the Paris Agreement, KfW Development Bank signed climate and environment-related financing totalling over EUR 24 billion. This means a reduction of 39.2 million t CO₂e per year in greenhouse gas emissions in partner countries.

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Germany has committed to becoming climate-neutral by 2050. Energy efficiency must be improved and fossil fuels replaced by renewable energy to accomplish this objective. Power-to-X – green hydrogen – is a catalyst for increased expansion of renewable energy sources.

KfW promotes climate projects involving innovative technologies – both in Germany and abroad. The German federal government concluded hydrogen alliances with Morocco and Tunisia in 2020. Plans for the first plant for production of green hydrogen are currently underway in Morocco.

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) - Issues: Hydrogen (available in German only)

Questions and answers on hydrogen (available in German only)

Interview on the Energy Transition 2.0

The German Federal Government (BMZ) is supporting the “Compact with Africa” initiative of the G20 as part of reform partnerships (RP) with substantial bilateral funding commitments. The reform champions selected since 2017 are Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Morocco and Senegal, with Togo added in 2020. The German federal government had already committed financing of around EUR 2.8 billion (technical and financial cooperation) to the reform partner countries by the end of 2020.

• The reform partnership in Tunisia focuses on the financial and banking sector and the governance area in cooperation with the World Bank, with a current financing volume of EUR 893 million. Three agreements totalling EUR 390 million were signed in 2020.
• In Côte d’Ivoire, EUR 255.5 million has been earmarked to expand renewable energy (solar and wind) and energy efficiency through private enterprise. EUR 40 million was disbursed at the end of 2020.
• In Ghana, the governance sector is being established as the second pillar of the reform partnership after the energy sector, in cooperation with the EU. EUR 297.6 million is available thus far for both sectors. EUR 50 million was committed in 2020.
• In Senegal, the reform partnership is focused on sustainable economic development (financial sector, vocational training and land rights) with EUR 206 million to date. Coronavirus emergency aid of EUR 100 million was disbursed at the end of October 2020.
• In Ethiopia, we have established very close cooperation with the World Bank and the AFD (Agence Française de Développement). The first EUR 110 million has been disbursed under the joint "Growth and Competitiveness" programme. An additional EUR 100 million was provided as coronavirus emergency aid.
• In Morocco, the first tranche of EUR 250 million was provided to the financial and banking sector in 2020.

KfW founded the special-purpose limited liability company “Investments for Employment” in November 2019 as part of the BMZ's “Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation”. EUR 141.5 million in BMZ funds had been paid into this FC facility by December 2020 and it is expected to increase to up to EUR 400 million in the future. Competitive rounds in the six RP countries (excluding Togo) as well as Egypt and Rwanda are being used to finance investments that will enable German, European and African companies to create and preserve more jobs and training places. The facility's quickly launched job retention schemes under the coronavirus programmes in these countries are expected to reach more than 2,000 SMEs covering more than 100,000 jobs.

Invest for Jobs – Opportunities for Growth in Africa

KfW, together with DEG and the Allianz Group, provides financing and advice to African SMEs and start-ups via the AfricaGrow fund of funds. As a legally independent entity, the AfricaGrow Fund is a central instrument of the Compact with Africa (CwA) initiative. The fund concluded its fundraising in the second half of 2020 and achieved the maximum volume of EUR 200 million (fiduciary holding via KfW of EUR 100 million (plus EUR 15 million in technical assistance), EUR 70 million from the Allianz Group and EUR 30 million from DEG).

AfricaGrow: Investments, Know-How, Growth