Four years after its establishment in early 2016, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has channeled US$8.5 billion in investments for as many as 45 projects in 18 countries.

And as of Saturday, the Beijing-based multilateral development bank officially has 100 members with the entry of African countries Benin, Djibouti and Rwanda during the bank’s fourth annual meeting in Luxembourg.

“AIIB members collectively account for 78 percent of the world’s population and 63 percent of global GDP. With the backing of all of our members, we are building a lean, clean and green institution that can help to support their sustainable development,” said AIIB president Jin Liqun.

AIIB and the African Development Bank signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in April 2018 to enhance collaborations in developing programs, cofinancing and other forms of financial assistance, knowledge and staff exchanges.

Meantime, the AIIB’s board of governors announced on Saturday that its fifth annual meeting will be held in Beijing in July 2020. China is among the AIIB’s founding members and hosts the bank’s headquarters.

“We appreciate the role of the government of China in initiating the establishment of the AIIB and the strong support it has provided since its inception,” said AIIB vice president and corporate secretary Danny Alexander.

China’s Finance Minister, Liu Kun, said the country was honored to host the fifth AIIB annual meeting in Beijing next year.

“We very much look forward to the 2020 Annual Meeting in Beijing and to welcoming our governors to the bank’s new headquarters,” Liu said.