Agreement establishing the African Development Bank
Type of Document: Treaties
International Organization: African Development Bank
Year: 1963
Country: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
The Agreement, concluded on 4 August 1963 and entered into force on 7 May 1982 (as amended by resolution 05-79 adopted by the Board of Governors on 17 May 1979) establishes the African Development Bank and regulates its legal status, privileges and immunities.
To enable it to fulfill its purpose and the functions with which it is entrusted, the Bank shall possess full international personality. To those ends, it may enter into agreements with members, non-member States and other international organizations (Article 50).
The Bank shall enjoy immunity from every form of legal process except in cases arising out of the exercise of its borrowing powers when it may be sued only in a court of competent jurisdiction in the territory of a member in which the Bank has its principal office, or in the territory of a member or non-member State where it has appointed an agent for the purpose of accepting service or notice of process or has issued or guaranteed securities. No actions shall, however, be brought by members or persons acting for or deriving claims from members (Article 50).
All governors, directors, alternates, officers and employees of the Bank and experts and consultants performing missions for the Bank Shall be immune from legal process with respect to acts performed by them in their official capacity (Article 56).
The Board of Directors may waive, to such extent and upon such conditions as it may determine, the immunities and exemptions provided in articles 52, 54, 56, and 57 of this Agreement in cases where its action would in its opinion further the interests of the Bank. The President shall have the right and the duty to waive the immunity of any official in cases where, in his opinion, the immunity would impede the course of justice and can be waived without prejudice to the interests of the Bank (Article 59).