Lukong Pius Nyuylime
4 March 2008
The money to be disbursed by the African Development Bank will be injected in 13 major projects Some 13 major areas of forest management in the Central African sub-region will soon get a financial boost following the commitment of the authorities of the African Development Bank in Tunis recently during a conference on the financing mechanism on the sustainable management of Congo Basin forest ecosystems.
According to PANA, the Ban k Group President, Donald Kaberuka, announced at the conference that the institution was planning to invest U S$ 814 million (about CFA 400 billion) in 13 operations, including five multilateral projects on natural resources management in Central Africa. "The institution is equally preparing a regional integration programme on the conservation of biodiversity and the improvement of ecotourism in the Great Lakes region worth US$ 65 million (about CFA 32 billion)", Donald Kaberuka said. The programme, which would equally include a component on institutional support to the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat and partner organs, would be presented to t h e Bank Group's board of directors this year, Mr. Kaberuka said, without giving details on the projects to be financed with the CFA 400 billion.
"The forests of the Congo Basin cover a large part of central Africa and represent the second largest remaining humid tropical forest in the world. "In terms of size, these forests, which play major economic and climatic roles, constitute a vast water basin and potential carbon reserve. But unfortunately, their existence is under threat mainly due to factors relating to poverty and governance crises, including prolonged conflicts," PANA quoted Kaberuka as having said.
The conference is expected to produce a declaration on the sustainable management t of forest ecosystems in the Congo Basin and an announcement by the Bank Group o n the design of an institutional support project for the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat and other partners responsible for the management of natural resources in the Congo Basin.
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