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afrol News, 17 July - The African Development Fund (ADF) today approved a quick disbursing loan of Franc CFA 14.06 billion (US$ 21.5 million) to finance the economic recovery support programme in Côte d'Ivoire. A total of six projects were approved. The Abidjan-based fund only resumed cooperation with its host country in April. According to an ADF statement, the aims of the recovery programme are ample. They include "reform of the macroeconomic environment; revitalization of agricultural sub-sectors in support of economic recovery; and creation of enabling conditions for private sector development with special emphasis on activities aimed at promoting private investment and improving the competitiveness of enterprises." Other aims of the programme include the "improvement of governance, financial management and effectiveness of public expenditure; and improvement of the living conditions of the populations and their full participation in the country's development." The loan was to be used for the implementation of measures in three areas. These were "reforms in the coffee-cocoa sub-sector, promotion of good governance and improvement of access to schooling and retention rates." In addition to this budgetary support, the African Development Bank (ADB) had approved five other operations. These include the Middle Comoé rural development project and the training support project for youth employment and the enhanced efficiency of the education system, amounting to Franc CFA 37.40 billion. They also include two grants amounting to Franc CFA 4.34 billion to support the National Good Governance and Capacity Building Programme and the study on the upgrading of drinking water supply systems in the towns of Abidjan and Bouaké. Besides these six new operations, the ADB also had "reactivated its portfolio of on-going projects which has available an amount of CFA 94.22 billion," the statement says. The Bank Group's net cumulative commitments in Côte d’Ivoire now amount to about CFAF 1000 billion, which had been used "to finance operations in all the sectors of the Ivorian economy," the release says. Only on 4 April, ADB had announced its "total" resumption of financial cooperation with the country. Although Côte d'Ivoire was granted a loan of 21 billion francs CFA at that occasion - almost a symbolic act to underline the resumption of cooperation - only today's massive move by the ADB Group signifies the real "total resumption of financial cooperation."
Sources: Based on ADB. and afrol archives
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