How the New Development Bank built a multibillion-dollar portfolio

In July 2015, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, known as BRICS, established the New Development Bank. Despite its small membership, NDB’s total project financing matches that of long-standing multilaterals. Its total project approvals by the end of 2024 amounted to $39 billion, according to its website. NDB has also expanded its membership, which now includes Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. Uruguay is also in the process of accession. In its General Strategy for 2022 to 2026, the bank expressed its intention to expand its membership further. However, the current list of approved and proposed projects still shows a heavy concentration of funding to its founding members. This analysis reviews NDB’s active programs to see where its priorities lie and identify who among its members got the biggest projects. What are the top-level figures? Since its establishment, NDB has overseen the completion of 17 projects, worth a total of $10.5 billion. There are currently 92 approved projects, worth $24.7 billion, while 28 projects, worth $7.8 billion, are still in the proposal stage. Meanwhile, 14 projects, worth $4.1 billion, were cancelled. The figures in this piece represent NDB’s maximum financing. It does not include co-financing from other donors, meaning that in many cases, the total project costs are actually larger. We also converted non-U.S. dollar currencies using historical rates. Where is the money going? All of the 92 approved projects went to NDB’s five founding members and Bangladesh. China received more than one-quarter of the total, worth $6.5 billion for 22 approved projects. This mostly went to transportation projects, which got $4.5 billion. India followed closely, with $6.1 billion for 24 projects. As with China, the majority of its approved projects, worth $4.7 billion, are in the transportation sector. Then Brazil, with $4.9 billion for 22 projects. More than half of those, worth $2.7 billion, went to multisectoral activities. The rest of the approved projects went to South Africa, with $4.1 billion, Russia, with $3 billion, and Bangladesh, with $125 million. In terms of sectors, transportation is the overall top priority, with $13.1 billion in approved financing from NDB for 38 projects. Multisectoral projects followed, with $3.8 billion for 19 projects, then energy, with $2.9 billion, and water and sanitation, with $2.4 billion. Excluding a single item for technical assistance, worth $252,300, the rest of NDB’s approved projects ranged from tens of millions to hundreds of millions. This gives an average financing of $271 million per project. There are four projects worth at least $1 billion. These are: • $1.2 billion in sovereign loans to the Brazilian Development Bank, or BNDES, to be used as lending capital to the public and private sectors for infrastructure projects in Brazil. • 18.5 billion South African rand ($1 billion in historical rates) to finance a range of transportation infrastructure activities in South Africa. • $1 billion for post-pandemic economic recovery efforts in Brazil. • $1 billion for the construction of new lanes and rehabilitation of existing public roads in South Africa. What’s in the pipeline? Aside from approved and completed projects, NDB also shares information on what’s in its pipeline. Overall, the bank has 28 proposed projects, with a maximum total financing of $7.8 billion. A third of this is earmarked for China, with nine proposed projects, worth $2.7 billion. Then South Africa, with $1.6 billion for four projects; Brazil, with $1.5 billion for five projects; India, with $1.1 billion for seven projects; Bangladesh, with $762 million for two projects; and Egypt, with $200 million for a single project. In terms of sectors, transportation remains the largest recipient, with nine projects, worth $3 billion. Then energy, with $1.1 billion for five projects; social infrastructure, with $1 billion for five projects; and water and sanitation, with $611 million for three projects. Another $2 billion is allocated for six multisectoral projects. The largest in the pipeline, worth $1 billion, will address the infrastructure and institutional gaps in South Africa’s eight metropolitan municipalities. Try out Devex Pro Funding today with a free five-day trial, and explore funding opportunities from over 850 sources in addition to our analysis and news content.