Strengthening BDEGL’s capacity for project preparation and investment readiness

Context

The Banque de Développement des États des Grands Lacs (BDEGL) is a regional development bank owned by member states of the Great Lakes region (Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo), with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Government of Belgium as shareholders. The Great Lakes region is crossed by key regional transport and trade corridors, offering significant opportunities for infrastructure investment by European and international partners.

The Bank is currently undergoing a comprehensive institutional restructuring process, including reforms to governance, organisational structure, internal procedures, and staffing.

Objectives

The GG ICR Facility is supporting the bank in strengthening its capacities to originate, structure and appraise investment projects, with a focus on infrastructure (energy and transport), regional integration, and cross-border connectivity. The objective is to enable BDEGL to manage the full project cycle for a set of pilot projects, from origination to approval, through a learning-by-doing approach.

In line with the Global Gateway’s emphasis on leveraging public and private finance, the Facility is also supporting BDEGL’s resource mobilisation to position it as a co-financing partner and to unlock external funding from European and international development finance institutions.

Expected results

The expected results of the project are:

the strengthening of project appraisal methodologies, including financial analysis, risk assessment, and consistency of evaluation processes
hands-on support on selected pilot projects, from origination to approval, to ensure practical capacity building
the development of tools, guidelines and internal processes to improve the quality and consistency of project preparation
support to resource mobilisation, including structuring projects for co-financing and engaging with partners such as AfDB
the integration of cross-cutting priorities, including gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, notably through the incorporation of gender-sensitive criteria in project appraisal and selection processes.

Taken together, these results will consolidate BDEGL’s institutional capacity to develop and manage a robust project pipeline and to engage in resource mobilisation, advancing the Global Gateway’s ambition to foster high-standard, sustainable, and co-financed investments.