Annual Report 2021EXPANDING OUR REACH AND IMPACT

As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to pose challenges to public health systems, social safety nets and broader economic activities, NDB provided additional assistance to its member countries in 2021. In response to their specific needs, the Bank approved two COVID-19-related loans to support China’s and South Africa’s economic recovery efforts and another to finance Russia’s healthcare response. These loans brought the Bank’s cumulative approvals under its Fast Track COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Response Facility to USD 9.2 billion.

Reducing the reliance on coal-fired power, while promoting the use of clean energy is a growing priority on China’s development agenda, as reflected by the ambitious climate goals outlined in its NDC. Although natural gas has been identified as an important substitute for coal, the rapid switch from coal to gas and significant winter demand surge for heating, have led to a supply shortfall in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China’s Capital Economic Zone. Due to insufficient natural gas emergency reserve capacity, local natural gas suppliers often fail to meet demand during the peak consumption seasons or when there are significant fluctuations in demand.

Pará is the second largest state in Brazil by area, with an economy focused largely on export-oriented sectors – such as agriculture and mining. The state lies within the Amazon rainforest range, and only about one third of its federal and state roads are paved. Inadequate road infrastructure hampers the state’s internal and external connectivity, affecting its capacity to export products, and limiting the economic development and integration of its municipalities.

Anhui is a landlocked province in eastern China, located in the Yangtze River Delta area – a priority region for the Chinese government to develop infrastructure and improve connectivity. Anhui’s major infrastructure challenge includes the need to build and upgrade national and provincial roads, thus accommodating the fast-growing demand for better mobility and connectivity, as well as improving economic integration with the rest of the country. It is also imperative to ensure the sustainability of road infrastructure and the quality of public transport services.

Located in Brazil’s south-eastern state of São Paulo, Sorocaba is a municipality with a population of close to 700,000. The municipality has been experiencing rapid economic growth, which has improved socioeconomic conditions for its residents. At the same time, fast growth is creating urban mobility and connectivity challenges – such as traffic congestion, inadequate access to public transport in peripheral neighbourhoods, increased transportation costs, and CO2 emissions. To enhance the quality of life of its residents, the Municipality of Sorocaba partnered with NDB to address its urban infrastructure challenges.

Despite an increase in the overall housing stock in Russia over the past two decades, the country has been experiencing a shortage of quality affordable housing. One of the key issues in Russia’s housing sector is the rapid degradation of the stock of buildings constructed 50 to 70 years ago using prefabricated materials, many of which are now considered below acceptable living standards. Meanwhile, the insufficient supply of new affordable houses pushed prices higher, making housing less affordable for those on lower incomes.

Himachal Pradesh is a state in northern India predominantly composed of mountainous terrain. The region suffers from deficiencies in water supply infrastructure. About 42% of the habitations in the state have limited access to clean drinking water. On average, water is only available for two to three hours a day at about 20 litres per capita. Despite sufficient sources of surface water in the region, infrastructure for treating and supplying piped water is inadequate to meet demand, leading to increased incidence of water-borne diseases.

China’s coastal city of Qingdao has faced pressure to upgrade its transport infrastructure since the development of the West Coast New Area – a rapidly growing economic district contributing to approximately 30% of the municipality’s GDP and hosting 17% of its population. Low connectivity within the West Coast New Area, limited land availability, high population density and serious congestion in the old South Coast Area hampers the socioeconomic development of Qingdao while increasing pollution due to insufficient public transport.