How to bid: African Development Bank (AfDB)

Where to find notices

Site de la BAD : avis généraux (GPN) et avis spécifiques (SPN) de passation de marchés
The AfDB site has a page for general procurement notices and a page for specific procurement notices of the projects it finances. The Bank's site refused our reading tools: check the 'Procurement' section of afdb.org directly.
Free to read according to the Bank's own presentation.
Site et presse de l'emprunteur
Since the borrower runs the procedure, the notice and dossier are also with it: ministry, project unit, national procurement portal or press.
UNGM (pour les achats propres de la BAD)
Purchases the AfDB makes for its own account (goods, services, real estate, works) are also listed on UNGM, but you then need to register on the AfDB's portal and respond there. This is not the channel for project contracts.
UNGM registration, then registration on the AfDB portal.

Mise en concurrence ouverte pour biens et travaux
According to the Bank: open competition, detailed specifications, price is the main factor, no negotiation, one envelope or multiple stages. The exact method names and thresholds (international, national and so on) are in the methodology and operations manual, which we could not read.[2]
Sélection de consultants sur liste restreinte
According to the Bank: shortlisting, terms of reference, price may weigh little, negotiation usual, two envelopes (technical and financial).[2]

Before spending time on a dossier, check in the notice that your country is eligible and whether the origin rule applies to the products you supply.

According to the AfDB's page on UNGM, only bidders from a member country of the Bank are eligible, and goods must originate from a member country. The page says the charter requires suppliers to be nationals of a member country for institutional and project contracts.[1]unofficial source
An AfDB presentation lists waivers to the origin rule: contracts co-financed with the African Development Fund, reliance on the borrower's system or third-party rules, mutual reliance arrangement with the EBRD and EIB, and case-by-case decisions.[2]unofficial source
The Bank's framework takes a risk-based approach: the borrower country's procurement system can be used in full, or the Bank's own rules, or a third party's (for example in fragile situations, emergencies or co-financing).[2]unofficial source

The AfDB's procurement framework was approved by its Board of Directors on 14 October 2015. It replaces two earlier rule sets: one for goods and works, one for consultants.[5]unofficial source
The framework has a policy, a methodology, an operations manual and a toolkit (standard bidding documents, forms, guidance notes). A Bank presentation sets an order of precedence between these texts.[2]unofficial source
The AfDB points to general (GPN) and specific (SPN) notice pages on its site. It also publishes its project portfolio and a quarterly operations summary.[2]unofficial source
The Bank's 2019 presentation also cites UN Development Business, but that service ceased all activity on its website on 31 March 2025: it is no longer a channel to follow.[2][4]
The Bank's own advice to firms: study the country strategy paper, spot projects under preparation, subscribe to alerts on the portfolio and notices, identify executing agencies and beware of conflicts of interest.[3]unofficial source

Most common submission errors according to the Bank: no bid security, conditional bid, insufficient security amount, missing supporting documents, incomplete or partial bid, missing test reports where required, unsigned bid, undisclosed conflict of interest.[2]unofficial source
Final check advised by the Bank: security amount, validity and wording, signatures and power of attorney, joint-venture agreement enclosed, references enclosed, discounts placed where the dossier asks, envelope marking.[2]unofficial source
During the bidding period the Bank advises asking the contracting agency your questions, not contacting the Bank, avoiding underbidding and demonstrating compliance with its fraud and corruption policy.[3]unofficial source

According to a Bank presentation (2018), complaints go into a central registry, every solicitation document carries a dedicated email address, and when the borrower's system is used the Bank checks that the country's process was followed.[3]unofficial source

If the notice says the country's system is used, the national code, its thresholds and its remedies govern the procedure. Open the matching country guide before relying on the AfDB framework.
Do not go to devbusiness.com, the old address of UN Development Business: on 2 November 2026 it showed a gambling site unrelated to public procurement.
Do not confuse project contracts with the Bank's own purchases. The UNGM listing and portal registration mainly concern the latter.
The nationality rule excludes firms from non-member countries, and the origin rule can reach your suppliers. A member-country firm reselling products from an ineligible country should check the notice before bidding.

Rather than guess, we list here what no reliable source allowed us to confirm. On these points, rely on the tender file or ask the body concerned.

The afdb.org site refused our tools: we could not read the Procurement Policy, the methodology, the operations manual, the standard bidding documents or the notice pages. The facts above come from Bank presentations hosted elsewhere, the AfDB page on UNGM and the press: all are marked 'secondary'. Re-check against the official site before publishing.
Not established: the names and thresholds of the methods (international and national bidding, supplier consultation, direct contracting, QCBS and others), the standstill period before signature, complaint deadlines, the beneficial ownership rule, and the framework's effective date (often given as 1 January 2016).
Not established: consultant and supplier registration. DACON is often cited as the AfDB's consultant database, but we could not open the Bank page describing it, nor confirm whether another system replaced it. The Bank's own purchases go through UNGM then an AfDB registration portal whose address we could not read.
We found no revision of the framework after 2015 in the readable sources, but that does not prove there is none.

African Development Bank (page d'information sur la BAD / AfDB knowledge page) (United Nations Global Marketplace (UNGM))
Business Opportunities with Multilateral Banks: Overview of the African Development Bank (présentation BAD, 29 novembre 2019, copie hébergée par la Chambre de commerce du Luxembourg) (African Development Bank (copie hébergée par Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce), 2019-11-29)
Procurement Under Bank-Financed Interventions (présentation BAD, 2 octobre 2018, copie hébergée par la Chambre de commerce du Luxembourg) (African Development Bank, Fiduciary Services & Inspection Department (copie hébergée par Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce), 2018-10-02)
UN Development Business Phase Down (United Nations, UN Development Business, 2025-03-31)
AfDB Approves the New Bank Group Procurement Framework (allAfrica, 2015-10-15)