Asian Development Bank

ADB Frontier will target small investments in companies with strong potential to generate growth, employment, and climate action, and to empower women and girls.

“ADB Frontier is a meaningful scaling up of ADB’s private sector operations in frontier market countries facing unique development challenges,” said ADB Director General for Private Sector Operations Suzanne Gaboury.

This is according to the bank's Asian Development Outlook of April 2023.

ADB director-general for the Pacific, Leah Gutierrez, said the signs were good but warned about some potential hurdles.

"A broad-based recovery across the Pacific is now on the horizon as the impact of the pandemic recedes and economies reopen," she said.

"But this recovery faces several headwinds, including structural risks from disaster impacts and climate change.

The agreement was signed by Tonga’s Minister of Finance Tiofilusi Tiueti and ADB’s Pacific Subregional Office Regional Director Aaron Batten yesterday.

The grant was approved by ADB on 7 March. 

“When disaster strikes, quick disbursing finance is needed to help Tonga rapidly respond to a disaster,” Tiueti said.

“This programme delivers help to Tongan people at a time when they need it most.”

The grants come from the Pacific Renewable Energy Investment Facility which finances renewable energy projects in 11 small Pacific developing countries.

“This project will upgrade the aged and inefficient electricity network in Tonga’s capital to overcome the effects of extreme weather and disasters,” said ADB Principal Energy Specialist for the Pacific Woo Yul Lee. “The project will focus on climate change adaptation and building back better from damage caused by the volcanic eruption and tsunami in January 2022.”

Tonga reported its first confirmed case last month and is experiencing localised community transmission of the Omicron variant.

The bank says its support, which will come from its Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund, will assist Tonga in meeting immediate response needs and deliver medical services where required.

Meanwhile, New Zealand will contribute US$4 million to support the improvement of water supply and sanitation for Tonga's most vulnerable households.

“An estimated 84% of Tonga’s population was affected by this twin disaster,” said ADB Director General for the Pacific Leah Gutierrez. “This grant will help the government with its immediate relief efforts which are focused on the provision of food; nonfood items, including water containers, hygiene kits, and household items; shelter; and clean-up of the ashfall.”

Tonga is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impact of climate change.

The findings, part of an upcoming report by ADB, were discussed at an event at COP26 hosted by ADB, the World Bank, and the Climate Investment Fund.

The Economic Recovery Support Programme will help the government progress ongoing reforms to foster Tonga’s economic recovery from the downturn caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The Programme is being financed in collaboration with the Government of Australia, the Government of New Zealand, and the World Bank.

ADB is providing US$2 million and Australia US$390,000 (in equivalent AUD$500,000) in additional financing to the program which was established in June 2020 to support the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu.

“The additional financing from the Government of Australia is highly appreciated and will be used to expand the scope of the assistance to Fiji where reforms will focus on strengthening public financial management practices in Fiji,” said Regional Director of ADB’s Pacific Subregional Office in Fiji Masayuki Tachiiri.

 The Digital Health Implementation Guide for the Pacific sets out a clear pathway for countries seeking to implement and invest in digital health. The primary audiences for the user-friendly guide are Pacific health managers and those working in information and communication technology in the health sector.