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The climate crisis, the mass displacement of people and the international dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic remind us that we cannot face our challenges alone—our solutions must be global. The European Investment Bank is at the heart of the EU effort to turn Europe’s policy initiatives into real development solutions on the ground. This report provides insights into our vital projects and initiatives in all regions around the world that are of priority to the European Union, data and insights on their impact and ideas for our contribution to an enhanced European architecture for development through a series of expert essays.

As the financing arm of the European Union, and as the only development bank entirely and exclusively owned by the EU’s Member States, we give the European Union the strategic autonomy to act quickly and at scale.

You can see this in our massive and immediate commitment to the European Union’s COVID-19 response, spearheaded by the European Commission through Team Europe. Now that safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines are available—our investment backed the very first to be approved—it is essential that lower-income economies are not left behind. Our €600 million support for the COVAX project in partnership with the European Commission is our largest ever for public health.

With our focus on a green recovery from COVID-19, we never lose sight of the long-term challenge of climate change whether in our investments or our development of new instruments. When we invented green bonds more than a decade ago, we knew that remarkable innovation was only the start of the job. We are still working to ensure transparency and accountability for green investments globally, even as we develop an entirely new market for sustainability awareness bonds.

We have a long history as a cornerstone of Europe’s development finance architecture, with operations in more than 140 countries. In Africa, we achieved record lending levels in 2020, signing €5 billion in financing, half of it with the private sector. Over 70% of our investment in sub-Saharan Africa was in least developed countries and fragile states.

The expert pieces in this report are a reminder that we constantly fine-tune our approach to adapt and respond to evolving EU policy priorities and to deliver greater impact, efficiency and effectiveness. With this in mind, we are further specialising our business delivery outside the European Union. We aim to put more of our bankers and engineers at the disposal of EU Delegations to further strengthen the European Union’s value added on the ground, increase EU visibility and, ultimately, have a stronger developmental impact. This reorganisation is aimed at maximising EU impact and visibility through a dedicated EU development finance partner with technical expertise, upholding and delivering on EU and partner country priorities, including climate, health, migration, gender and digitalisation.

“ As the financing arm of the European Union, and as the only development bank entirely and exclusively owned by the EU’s Member States, we give the European Union the strategic autonomy to act quickly and at scale. ”

The European Investment Bank is an investment bridge between EU policies and projects on the ground. Working in almost every African country, in the Western Balkans countries on their path to EU accession, in the EU’s Southern and Eastern Neighbourhoods and around the world, we use our unrivalled sector expertise to help build investments that reduce poverty, disease and environmental degradation.

Our plans respond to the growing demand for a stronger partnership between Europe and the world. We are committed to improving lives, together.

Werner Hoyer