West Africa · Development finance

Who funds West Africa

Official development assistance reported by donors to the OECD, covering 16 countries and 144 donors from 2000–2022.

$17.1bn received in 2022
$19.1bn peak, in 2020
Nigeria largest recipient
18.5% of GNI — Liberia
Abstract map of West Africa with finance flows, documents and institutions

Two decades of aid

Total ODA disbursements to the sixteen countries, in current US dollars as reported by donors.

$0.00m$5.1bn$10.3bn$15.4bn$20.6bn20002004200820122016202020222000: $3.4bn2000: $3.4bn2001: $3.9bn2001: $3.9bn2002: $5.2bn2002: $5.2bn2003: $5.2bn2003: $5.2bn2004: $6.8bn2004: $6.8bn2005: $12.0bn2005: $12.0bn2006: $17.9bn2006: $17.9bn2007: $7.8bn2007: $7.8bn2008: $9.1bn2008: $9.1bn2009: $10.7bn2009: $10.7bn2010: $12.5bn2010: $12.5bn2011: $12.5bn2011: $12.5bn2012: $14.0bn2012: $14.0bn2013: $12.4bn2013: $12.4bn2014: $12.7bn2014: $12.7bn2015: $12.7bn2015: $12.7bn2016: $11.8bn2016: $11.8bn2017: $13.3bn2017: $13.3bn2018: $14.0bn2018: $14.0bn2019: $14.7bn2019: $14.7bn2020: $19.1bn2020: $19.1bn2021: $16.7bn2021: $16.7bn2022: $17.1bn2022: $17.1bn
ODA to West Africa, 2000–2022 USD millions

Largest donors

Individual donors only — OECD group totals such as “DAC countries” or “United Nations” are excluded so nothing is counted twice.

  • Bilateral
  • Multilateral
  • Non-DAC
  • Private
International Development Association [IDA]: $6.0bnInternational Development Assoc…$6.0bnUnited States: $2.2bnUnited States$2.2bnFrance: $1.5bnFrance$1.5bnGlobal Fund: $1.0bnGlobal Fund$1.0bnEU Institutions: $1.0bnEU Institutions$1.0bnGermany: $861mGermany$861mJapan: $459mJapan$459mCanada: $423mCanada$423mMastercard Foundation: $359mMastercard Foundation$359mGates Foundation: $324mGates Foundation$324mGlobal Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization [GAVI]: $296mGlobal Alliance for Vaccines an…$296mUnited Kingdom: $234mUnited Kingdom$234mAfrican Development Fund [AfDF]: $221mAfrican Development Fund [AfDF]$221mIMF Concessional Trust Funds: $209mIMF Concessional Trust Funds$209mSwitzerland: $188mSwitzerland$188m
Largest donors, 2022 USD millions

Where it goes

Total received per country.

Nigeria: $4.4bnNigeria$4.4bnNiger: $2.0bnNiger$2.0bnCôte d'Ivoire: $2.0bnCôte d'Ivoire$2.0bnSenegal: $1.5bnSenegal$1.5bnBurkina Faso: $1.4bnBurkina Faso$1.4bnMali: $1.2bnMali$1.2bnGhana: $1.0bnGhana$1.0bnBenin: $847mBenin$847mSierra Leone: $518mSierra Leone$518mGuinea: $501mGuinea$501mLiberia: $484mLiberia$484mTogo: $428mTogo$428mMauritania: $327mMauritania$327mGambia: $271mGambia$271mGuinea-Bissau: $148mGuinea-Bissau$148mCape Verde: $83mCape Verde$83m
ODA received, 2022 USD millions

Aid measured against the economy

The same flows as a share of national income. This is the figure that separates a large recipient from a dependent one — the biggest recipient in dollar terms is rarely the most reliant on aid.
Shown for 2021 — this measure depends on national accounts and lags the headline figures by a year.

Liberia: 18.5%Liberia18.5%Sierra Leone: 17.5%Sierra Leone17.5%Gambia: 12.2%Gambia12.2%Niger: 11.9%Niger11.9%Guinea-Bissau: 10.3%Guinea-Bissau10.3%Burkina Faso: 8.6%Burkina Faso8.6%Mali: 7.7%Mali7.7%Cape Verde: 7.7%Cape Verde7.7%Mauritania: 5.3%Mauritania5.3%Senegal: 5.1%Senegal5.1%Benin: 4.8%Benin4.8%Guinea: 4.2%Guinea4.2%Togo: 4.2%Togo4.2%Côte d'Ivoire: 2.3%Côte d'Ivoire2.3%Ghana: 1.6%Ghana1.6%Nigeria: 0.8%Nigeria0.8%
ODA as share of national income, 2021 percent of GNI

How it arrives

These categories overlap and do not sum to the total: grants and loans divide ODA between them, while humanitarian aid and technical cooperation cut across both.

$11.1bn ODA grants, disbursements
$6.1bn ODA Loans, net disbursements
$1.5bn Humanitarian aid
$1.4bn Technical cooperation, disbursements
$3m Debt forgiveness

Finance this ledger cannot see

Everything above is reported to the OECD. China is not, so none of it appears there. Tracked separately from contracts and debtor records, Chinese commitments to these same sixteen countries come to $60.7bn, of which $15.5bn is aid-like — the rest being commercial or near-commercial lending. Those are commitments in constant dollars and cannot be added to the disbursement figures above.

Chinese development finance Sectors, financing institutions and individual projects

Source OECD DAC2A — ODA disbursements to recipient countries, retrieved 2026-07-27. Values in current US dollars.

These are flows as reported by the donor. A reported disbursement is not evidence that funds were received, spent, or produced any outcome.

OECD Development Assistance Committee · OECD Terms — free reuse with attribution