AfDB Approves U.S.$ 258 Million Loans and Grants to Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Niger

22 September 2011
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group on 20 September 2011 in Tunis approved loans and grants amounting to 160 million Units of Account* (U.S.$ 257.6 million) to finance public sector growth support as well as water and sanitation projects in Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Niger.

Project briefs:

Burkina Faso: UA 50.0 million (U.S.$ 80.5 million) African Development Fund budget support grant to finance the Accelerated Growth Strategy and Business Environment Support Programme (PASCACAF). The programme is designed on the Paris Declaration and Accra Action Agenda on aid effectiveness best practice principles, in four areas: (i) macroeconomic framework to stimulate and diversify accelerated development growth poles; (ii) human capital and promotion of social welfare; (iii) governance and improvement of public expenditure efficiency and effectiveness; and (iv) inclusion of cross-cutting development policies and programmes to improve overall business environment. The grant resources will be disbursed in two equal tranches in October 2011 and June 2012. The programme is expected to be completed by May 2013.

Mozambique: UA 60.0 million (U.S.$ 96.6 million) ADF loan to finance the Growth and Public sector Efficiency Programme (GPSE) designed to assist Mozambique to broaden the social impacts of the country's robust economic growth on effective job creation, income generation and poverty reduction. The GPSE is the fifth general budget support operation for the country and is expected to deepen the AfDB's two previous Development Budget Support Loans (PRSL I and II) closely aligned to the country's Poverty Reduction Action Plan 2011-2014. The GPSE, which will be implemented over three fiscal years 2011-2013, has two major components: (i) Improvement of business environment and employment creation through access to credit for SMEs, microfinance in rural areas, regional trade facilitation and simplification of business start-up procedures and (ii) Public sector Efficiency and Transparency in budget execution, internal and external audit and procurements.

Niger: UA 21.02 million (U.S.$ 33.84 million) grant from GAFSP (The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program and UA 9.34 million (U.S.$ 15.0 million) ADF loan to finance The Water Mobilization Project to Enhance Food Security in the Maradi, Tahoua and Zinder Regions ( PMERSA-MTZ). The main expected outcomes of the project whose total cost is UA 40.44 million (U.S.$ 65.1 million) include: (i) construction and rehabilitation of water spreading bunds, mini dams and development of 17,600 hectares irrigation area; (ii) construction of village wells, rural roads and storage infrastructure; (iii) land tenure security for the developed sites. The project which provides for valuable capacity building in water and soil conservation will not only increase irrigated surface area in Niger but also reduce post-harvest losses, increase agricultural output thereby improving living standards for more than 200,000 people. The project is co-financed by the Spanish cooperation agency to the tune of UA 9.6 million (U.S.$15.5million); and would be completed by December 2017.

Niger: UA 16.0 million (U.S.$ 25.8 million) ADF loan and UA 3.67 million (U.S.$ 5.9 million) grant from the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Multi-donor Trust Fund to finance the National Rural Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (NRDWSSP-II) Project. The project is co-financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) to the tune of UA 11 million (U.S.$ 17.7 million), at a total cost of UA 34.1 million (U.S.$ 54.9 million). It will (i) improve availability and quality of drinking water with over 9881 new devices, 99 drinking water supply structures, 297 new boreholes fitted with hand pumps in addition to 130 rehabilitated boreholes; (ii) ease the burden of water-fetching chores for women with over 300 female outreach workers; (iii) reduce water costs; (iv) reduce prevalence of water-borne diseases; and (v) promote water-related income-generating activities. The project is expected to be completed in December 2014.

The Board also approved the Country Strategy Paper (CSP) 2011-2015 for Mozambique and the Eastern Africa Regional Integration Strategy Paper (RISP) 2011-2015.

1UA (Unit of Account) = USD 1.61 as at 20 September 2011.

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