Information Disclosure & Grievance Mechanisms of the New Development Bank

The New Development Bank (NDB) emphasizes the use of 'country systems' for project implementation, which shifts the primary responsibility for environmental and social assessments, consultations, and grievance mechanisms to the client. However, the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) finds that critical project documentation—including risk assessments, management plans, and Country Partnership Plans (CPP)—is not publicly available. While the NDB has its own Information Disclosure Policy (IDP), there is ambiguity regarding its susceptibility to South Africa's Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), as the NDB's Africa Regional Center has indicated it is not subject to such legislation. The report highlights a lack of transparency in the NDB's decision-making processes and recommends that all project and policy information be made accessible via the NDB website to ensure accountability.

• The NDB utilizes a 'country systems' approach, meaning it prefers using a borrowing country's own environmental, social, fiduciary, and procurement systems rather than external standards, provided they meet NDB requirements.
• Under the NDB's Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), the client—not the NDB—is primarily responsible for conducting assessments, consultations, implementing grievance redressal, and disclosing information.
• Significant project documentation is not publicly available, including detailed risk assessment processes, screening deliberations, classification reasons, and project management plans.
• The NDB has approved 9 projects for South Africa (8 in South Africa and 1 in Lesotho) with an estimated value of USD 3.2 billion, including a USD 1 billion COVID-19 emergency program loan secured in July 2020.
• There is a conflict regarding the NDB's legal obligations under South African law; while the NDB possesses full juridical personality in South Africa, its Africa Regional Center (ARC) has stated the bank is not subject to the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
• The Country Partnership Plan (CPP) for South Africa, which outlines strategic planning and project pipelines, is not subject to public participation and the document itself could not be located by the authors.
• The NDB's project classification system (Categories A, B, C, and F1) determines the level of assessment required, but the specific records of these decisions are not public. For example, the Durban Container Terminal Berth Reconstruction Project was classified as Category A due to likely significant adverse impacts.
• The NDB's Information Disclosure Policy (IDP) provides a formal process for requesting information, including a 30-working-day response window and an appeal process through the Corporate Secretary.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2021). Information Disclosure & Grievance Mechanisms of the New Development Bank. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/oxfam-ndb-full-report-web.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. Information Disclosure & Grievance Mechanisms of the New Development Bank. 2021. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/oxfam-ndb-full-report-web.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=Information Disclosure & Grievance Mechanisms of the New Development Bank |date=March 2021 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/oxfam-ndb-full-report-web.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2021information, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{Information Disclosure \& Grievance Mechanisms of the New Development Bank}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/oxfam-ndb-full-report-web.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }