It is active in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the French overseas territories, where it finances and supports projects that improve living conditions for populations, promote economic growth and protect the planet.

[2] According to the OECD, France is in the global Top 5 for providers of official development assistance (ODA) in volume, with a strong focus on Africa.

AFD has a contract of objectives and policies with the state and implements the orientations defined by the Inter-ministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development (CICID),[12] chaired by the Prime Minister.

[16] It achieves this by financing and supporting projects that improve living conditions for populations, promote economic growth and protect the planet.

[19] For 2014, the breakdown for commitments by sector is as follows: AFD also operates in emerging countries for issues related to the protection of the environment and energy management.

[21] AFD, via the projects it finances and several initiatives, is gearing up for the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

It is active in the field in over 90 countries, where it finances and supports projects that improve living conditions for populations, promote economic growth and protect the planet: getting children into school, assisting farmers, financing small businesses, water supply, tropical forest conservation, combating climate change... AFD's strategy is guided by sustainable development.

Its operations are in line with the Millennium Development Goals, at the intersection of the objectives of economic growth, poverty reduction and environmental conservation.

Among the many projects, a number focus on promoting access to essential services, the growth of sustainable cities, the development of infrastructure, family farming and job-creating enterprises, as well as on the preservation of natural resources.

AFD supports the region's political and economic transition, with a focus on promoting Euro-Mediterranean integration, territorial development and job creation.

Its activities are based on the following areas: financing and assisting public policies, advisory services for local authorities, promoting business competitiveness and job creation, supporting regional integration and action for sustainable development.

[28] This involves financing and supporting projects that improve living conditions for populations and promote economic growth, while preserving the environment.

AFD is the reference shareholder in seven social housing companies (Simar in Martinique, Sic in New Caledonia, Sig in Guadeloupe, SIDR in Réunion, Siguy and Simko in French Guiana and Sim in Mayotte).

Mr. Joyandet, French Secretary of State for Cooperation and Francophonie from March 2008 to July 2010, criticized the Chief Executive Officer at the time, Mr. Severino, for AFD's emergency-oriented approach, without a long term-vision and a certain lack of scope.

In December 2013, CONAC presented its 2012 activity report in Yaoundé, indicating that over CFA 113bn had been misappropriated from the cotton development company (SODECOTON) between 2002 and 2011.

[39] In December 2021, created under the name Caisse centrale de la France libre in 1941, the public financial institution could change its name again in the coming months, 80 years after its launch.

Or a project in the process of reflection, which also includes an overhaul of its operation and its development policy, which "appear unsuitable in relation to our experience", according to its director Rémy Rioux.