More than 50 representatives from African countries and development finance institutions gathered in Vienna this week for a three-day capacity-building workshop aimed at strengthening how African governments manage environmental and social risk in development projects, part of a continent-wide initiative that began well over a year ago.
The African Development Bank (AfDB), the OPEC Fund for International Development and the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) jointly organised the workshop, according to a statement issued by the AfDB in Abuja on Friday, October 2. It marked the second phase of the AfDB/OPEC Fund Environmental and Social Capacity Building Initiative, first launched in Vienna in June 2025.
Maman-Sani Issa, Director of AfDB’s Environmental and Social Safeguards and Compliance Department, said the partnership gave countries practical opportunities to exchange experience and strengthen their capacity. “The objective is to equip our regional member countries with the knowledge and practical skills required to integrate environmental and social considerations into project design and implementation,” Issa said. Stronger national systems, he added, would ultimately enhance the sustainability and development impact of projects the Bank supports.
Musab Alomar, OPEC Fund Vice-President for Strategy, said environmental and social safeguards were not peripheral to development work. “Environmental and social safeguards do not sit on the sidelines of development; they are integral to making development more sustainable, inclusive and equitable,” Alomar said.
Discussions at the workshop focused on land acquisition and resettlement, biodiversity conservation, social inclusion, cultural heritage, community safety, and gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment safeguards. The Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment led separate sessions on financing the monitoring of environmental and social management plans and strengthening regulatory compliance. Dennis van Peppen, Director of the NCEA, highlighted the workshop’s value for peer learning and dialogue on strengthening environmental and social country systems.
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The initiative builds on the AfDB’s Country System Assessments, a tool the Bank uses to evaluate how ready national frameworks across its member countries are to manage environmental and social risks before projects proceed. The inaugural 2025 phase brought together representatives from ten countries, including Nigeria, alongside Morocco, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Gabon, Uganda and Senegal.
What comes next
The next phase of the initiative is expected to move from shared, continent-wide sessions to tailored national-level training, addressing specific weaknesses identified in each participating country’s own safeguard systems. No timeline or funding figure for that phase has yet been disclosed.
