African Development Bank Internship Program 2027 – Session 1 : Paid Internship Opportunities Across Africa

THE BANK:

Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 81 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten-Year Strategy (2023 – 2032) and ensure greater developmental impact, four Cardinal Points, all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely  Unlocking capital at scale, Reforming Africa’s financial architecture, from demographic boom to economic powerhouse, Building climate-resilient infrastructure and value addition. The Internship program is part of a wider Talent Management Framework which facilitates the Bank to deliver on the Ten-Year Strategy.

Participants in the Program are selected on a competitive basis, based on business needs of the Bank.

Objectives:

The broad objectives of the program are to:

• Provide students with an opportunity to acquire professional and practical experience at the African Development Bank.
• Provide the Bank with a pool of potential candidates for future recruitment purposes.

However, applicants should not expect the internship to lead to immediate employment with the Bank.

The Fields of Study Required for the Internship:

• The fields of study from which Interns shall be selected must be within the Job Families of the Bank: Agriculture, Human Capital, Engineering, Investment, Operations management & programming, Sustainability, Procurement, Delivery & Performance Monitoring, Risk Management, Finance, Capacity Development, Governance, Natural Resource and Knowledge Management, Economics, Statistics and Data Management, Human Resources Management, Information Management Technology, Real Estate Management and Services, Translation and Interpretation, Communication, Legal, Corporate Governance & Advisory Functions or any other field of study that the Bank may deem relevant to its operations.
• Special consideration shall be given to students who are working on projects which have a direct bearing on the mission of the Bank.

Timeline for Session 1 of the 2027 Internship Program:

Session 1 of the 2027 Internship Program will commence in January 2027.

Terms and Conditions:

• Internships shall be granted to each candidate for a period not less than three (3) months and not more than six (6) months. The internship is authorized only once for any candidate.
• Selected interns will perform their internship either remotely or on-site depending on the needs of their respective hiring units. Remote interns are expected to have access to a personal computer, reliable internet connection and a conducive living environment that facilitates smooth and uninterrupted remote working.
• On-site interns shall be responsible for their air travel (in case of) to and from the Bank’s location as well as their upkeep.
• The Bank will use reasonable efforts to assist the concerned interns in obtaining their entry and residence visas.
• Eligible Interns will benefit from a medical insurance coverage paid by the Bank during the period of their internship.
• Eligible interns will be provided with a monthly stipend.

Eligibility Criteria:

To be eligible for internship, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Must have attained the age of majority in their country of nationality or origin and be not more than Thirty (30) years old at the time of commencement of the internship program.
• Be currently enrolled in a master’s level degree program in a recognized public or private educational institution of higher learning.
• The candidate can apply for an internship within one (1) year of having obtained such a degree.
• Be nationals of the member Countries of the African Development Bank.
• Provide a letter from their school confirming their enrollment or a copy of the above-mentioned Degree. Applicants must be fluent in at least one of the Banks’s two working languages (English or French).
• Be able to use the Bank’s standard software packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access); knowledge of SAP is desirable.

For the 2027 African Development Bank Internship Program, the eligibility requirement is nationality of an African Development Bank Regional Member Country. The AfDB currently lists 54 Regional Member Countries.

All 54 eligible African countries

1. 🇩🇿 Algeria
2. 🇦🇴 Angola
3. 🇧🇯 Benin
4. 🇧🇼 Botswana
5. 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
6. 🇧🇮 Burundi
7. 🇨🇻 Cabo Verde
8. 🇨🇲 Cameroon
9. 🇨🇫 Central African Republic
10. 🇹🇩 Chad
11. 🇰🇲 Comoros
12. 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo
13. 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
14. 🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire
15. 🇩🇯 Djibouti
16. 🇪🇬 Egypt
17. 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea
18. 🇪🇷 Eritrea
19. 🇸🇿 Eswatini
20. 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
21. 🇬🇦 Gabon
22. 🇬🇲 Gambia
23. 🇬🇭 Ghana
24. 🇬🇳 Guinea
25. 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau
26. 🇰🇪 Kenya
27. 🇱🇸 Lesotho
28. 🇱🇷 Liberia
29. 🇱🇾 Libya
30. 🇲🇬 Madagascar
31. 🇲🇼 Malawi
32. 🇲🇱 Mali
33. 🇲🇷 Mauritania
34. 🇲🇺 Mauritius
35. 🇲🇦 Morocco
36. 🇲🇿 Mozambique
37. 🇳🇦 Namibia
38. 🇳🇪 Niger
39. 🇳🇬 Nigeria
40. 🇷🇼 Rwanda
41. 🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe
42. 🇸🇳 Senegal
43. 🇸🇨 Seychelles
44. 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone
45. 🇸🇴 Somalia
46. 🇿🇦 South Africa
47. 🇸🇸 South Sudan
48. 🇸🇩 Sudan
49. 🇹🇿 Tanzania
50. 🇹🇬 Togo
51. 🇹🇳 Tunisia
52. 🇺🇬 Uganda
53. 🇿🇲 Zambia
54. 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe

Important: The AfDB distinguishes these 54 African Regional Member Countries from its non-regional member countries in Europe, Asia, North America and elsewhere. For this internship announcement, the stated requirement is to be a national of an AfDB member country, and the vacancy specifically says applicants need to be nationals of AfDB member countries.

Strategic Focus areas:

The specific disciplines and specialist professional areas are aligned to the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy (TYS) and the gender strategy.  In addition to the fields that are in the job families of the Bank, focus will be on the following areas:

• ·Agriculture

• ·Human Capital

• ·Engineering

• ·Investment

• ·Operations management & programming

• ·Sustainability

• ·Procurement

• ·Delivery & Performance Monitoring

• ·Risk Management

• ·Finance

• ·Capacity Development

• ·Governance, Natural Resource and Knowledge Management

• ·Economics, Statistics and Data Management

• ·Human Resources Management

• ·Information Management Technology

• ·Real Estate Management and Services

• ·Translation and Interpretation

• ·Communication

• ·Legal

• ·Corporate Governance & Advisory Functions or any other field of study that the Bank may deem relevant to its operations

Application Procedure:

Applicants will only be considered if they submit an online complete application and attach a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV).

The Bank runs two (2) internship sessions per year. This announcement is for Session 1 of the 2027 Internship Program.

Applications will be open for fifteen (15) calendar days, from 28 September 2026 to 12 October 2026. Selected interns will commence their internship in January 2027.

Should you encounter technical difficulties in submitting your application, please send an email with a precise description of the issue and/or a screenshot showing the problem to HR Direct: HRDirect@AFDB.ORG.