Tunis — The African Development Bank (ADB) Group is establishing a regional office in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This office will cover the Bank Group's activities in DRC and the neighboring Republic of Congo, said in Tunis yesterday the president of the ADB Group after he signed the agreement establishing the representation office.
The President qualified this ceremony as "a crucial moment in the reinforcement of the cooperation relationships that link the Bank Group to DRC". President Kabbaj was also pleased that DRC, which just recovered from a long period of conflict, has been chosen to host the ADB Group regional office.
The selection criteria of DRC lie in the volume, quality, hosting country portfolio possibilities as well as local private sector potentialities and institutional capacity of the country. A crucial factor which also motivates this choice is the regional integration promotion perspectives that the chosen country office in Central Africa can provide.
Kinshasa Office will thus be provided with the resources to enable it provide assistance to the country with regard to loan entry into force, procurement and disbursement. Furthermore, the office will facilitate dialogue on general development policy and strategy issues with DRC's authorities and those of the Republic of Congo, as well as with all local partners.
Since the Democratic Republic of Congo settled its arrears to the ADB Group, the ADB has approved 8 operations in favor of the country. The Bank's total commitments amount to nearly 228 million US Dollars. About seventy per cent of that portfolio comprises rural and social development projects as well as national and regional capacity building operations.
President Kabbaj expressed the wish that the establishment of the Kinshasa Office will be result in the acceleration of the project implementation pace and the improvement of the general disbursement rate, which is still relatively low, at 24%. Such progress would enhance the impact of the Bank's operations on the targeted population groups living conditions.
On his side, the Finance Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr. André Philippe Futa, thanked the President for this manifestation of trust, which highlights DRC's peace-keeping abilities in the Great Lakes region. Minister Futa also emphasized the fact that "achieving development from a distance is impossible" and said he was pleased to participate to the improvement of the Bank Group's mission in term of transparency and efficiency in the continent and particularly in Central Africa.
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The establishment of an ADB Group regional office in Kinshasa lies within the Group activities' decentralization policy. DRC belongs to a group of 25 countries selected to host representation offices aimed at improving, on the ground, the management and follow-up of the Bank projects and programmes and ensuring a better quality of assistance and dialogue to the member countries.
The full text of President Kabbaj's statement is available.
