ADB launches critical minerals financing facility

The Asian Development Bank recently launched a new financing facility designed to help countries in Asia and the Pacific develop critical minerals supply chains that support clean energy technologies, electric vehicles, batteries, and digital industries.

The Critical Minerals-to-Manufacturing Financing Partnership Facility includes two main components: a grant window and a catalytic finance window.

The initiative aims to support the full value chain of critical minerals development, from early-stage project preparation and policy reforms to large-scale investments involving both public and private sectors.

The grant window will finance feasibility studies, environmental and social assessments, technical assistance, and knowledge-sharing activities needed to prepare viable projects.

The facility has already secured initial support, with the government of Japan committing US$20 million and the government of the United Kingdom pledging US$1.6 million.

The catalytic finance window is designed to attract co-financing and enable risk-sharing with partner institutions to accelerate investment flows into the sector.

As initial partners, Korea Eximbank and the Korean Trade Insurance Corporation have each signed US$500-million memoranda under the program.

“Critical minerals will shape the next industrial era. Asia and the Pacific should be more than a source of raw materials. The region should also capture the jobs, technology, and value these minerals provide,” ADB President Masato Kanda said.

“This facility is about urgency and fairness: building responsible supply chains now, so our developing member countries can compete in advanced manufacturing and create opportunities at home,” he added.