June 12th, 2009 - AfDB President, Donald Kaberuka, has signed a Host Country Agreement (HCA) for the institution's regional office in Pretoria, South Africa. The HCA has been jointly signed on behalf of the South African government by its International Relations and Cooperation Minister, on the one hand, and the Finance Minister, who is also AfDB Governor for South Africa, on the other. The HCA will mark an important step in the institution's decentralization strategy.
The AfDB regional office in South Africa will also cover Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Multinational Projects under SADC (Southern African Development Community). It will therefore work with borrowers, including governmental and non-governmental organizations in project identification and administration, project implementation monitoring, disbursement and loan repayment procedures, assistance to the government and executing agencies on the preparation of quarterly progress reports, annual audit reports and project completion reports. The regional office will also help with the participatory approach to the design of country strategy papers, project design and work with civil society and non-governmental organizations operating in South Africa. It will also co-ordinate Bank Group operations with other donor agencies, including SADC as well as represent the institution in resource-mobilization and aid-co-ordination meetings.
Contact
Moktar Gaouad
