The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved a loan of €11.7 million euros (FCFA 7.7 billion) to Niger from the African Development Fund, its concessional or 'soft loan' arm, to finance better governance and boost inclusive economic growth in the country.
The money will be used for its domestic resource mobilization and economic and financial governance improvement support programme, known as PAMOGEF.
The loan agreement was signed in Tunis, on 10 February, by Janvier Litse, AfDB Ag. operations vice president, and Amadou Boubacar Cisse, minister of planning, Niger land management and community development, and AfDB governor for Niger. It was earlier approved by the AfDB board of directors approved PAMOGEF on 26 January, 2012.
The project will be implemented over four years and will contribute to capacity building in the ministries of planning, finance, mining, energy and oil, as well as to good governance control and fostering mechanisms.
AfDB's intervention in Niger will revolve around three areas: improving domestic resource mobilization and governance in the extractive sector; improving the economic planning and budget process, and better project management.
Niger's minister of planning and land management, Amadou Cisse, expressed his satisfaction with AfDB's operations in the country, describing the achievements as "substantial". He added that "The African Development Bank has been and still remains a major technical and financial external partner in Niger since 1970, given the amount of its funding and the quality of its programme portfolio," he said.
According to AfDB experts, the project could increase tax revenue from 13 percent to 15 percent and increase the extractive sector's contribution to the national budget from 20 percent to 40 percent. They also consider it will help to produce and disseminate Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative reports on mineral and oil revenues on a more regular basis.
AfDB's current portfolio in Niger amounts to approximately €222 million. "There is no doubt this cooperation will further strengthen in the future, for the economic and social progress of your country," said AfDB vice president, Janvier Litse.
On top of budgetary support and project financing, the AfDB took part in all initiatives targeting Niger's public debt relief and medium and longer term sustainability.
