Overcoming crises, delivering impact: EBRD President charts the way forward

• Riga hosts the EBRD’s 2026 Annual Meeting and Business Forum
• Odile Renaud-Basso speaks at the opening session of the EBRD Board of Governors
• President discusses the Bank’s role in helping its economies to overcome challenges, supporting private sector-led growth

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is helping its investee economies to withstand shocks and build long-term resilience despite a volatile and turbulent global environment, its President said today.

Addressing the Bank’s Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Riga, Odile Renaud‑Basso said conflict and fragmentation were testing economies and institutions alike, underlining the importance of international cooperation.

“At the same time, I know that our amazing staff, the EBRD as a whole and the countries where we work have the talent and commitment to overcome crises,” she told the Board of Governors.

Ukraine was a central theme of her speech, with total EBRD financing deployed since the start of Russia’s full-scale war having reached €10 billion. The President said: “We will be at the forefront of international efforts to rebuild the country when the time comes.”

She also highlighted the EBRD’s response to the effects of the conflict in the Middle East, noting the Bank’s rapid support for the private sector and its readiness to scale up engagement as conditions allow.

Ms Renaud-Basso stressed the importance of international cooperation, citing the Chornobyl New Safe Confinement as a powerful example of what collective action can achieve and thanking donors who have begun mobilising support to repair the damage inflicted on it last year by a Russian drone.

She also pointed to the general decline in development aid and the increase in sovereign debt, stressing the utmost importance of private sector-led growth. She referred to the EBRD’s recent launch of its first €1 billion significant risk transfer as “a taste of more to come”.

The President highlighted the Bank’s new investments in sub-Saharan Africa, saying: “We have got off to a flying start in our new region – just as we did 15 years ago in the southern and eastern Mediterranean.”

Turning to the long-term outlook, the President said strategic investment in economic resilience and connectivity would be critical. Priorities include strengthening energy security and advancing the Middle Corridor to support trade, diversification and sustainable growth across the Bank’s regions.

Among the Bank’s strategic priorities, Ms Renaud-Basso singled out economic governance as an area the Bank has prioritised, highlighting its potential to accelerate market reform across its regions and to foster innovation and new economic opportunities.

After acknowledging the risks the world faces and the scale of the challenges ahead, the President concluded: “Our Bank will grow stronger, more resilient and more versatile, delivering now and for the future.”