The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank on Wednesday, March 5, 2014 in Tunis approved the Bank's Country Strategy Papers (CSPs) for Tunisia and Namibia that would guide its operations in the countries concerned in the coming years.

The Bank's Interim Country Strategy Paper 2014-2015 for Tunisia is aligned with the Government's priorities, particularly the creation of quality jobs and the reduction of regional disparities by supporting actions aimed at developing an inclusive private sector.

A continuation of the previous I-CSP 2012-2013, the new strategy paper seeks to refocus the Bank's operation for 2014-2015 on two pillars, namely Governance and Infrastructure, in line with the Bank's Ten-Year Strategy.

Furthermore, support within the framework of the pillars will be provided with a dual temporal objective of carrying out (i) short-term actions to ensure rapid achievements and (ii) medium-/long-term actions to lay the foundations for a new more inclusive and higher value-added development model.

The CSP 2014-2018 for Namibia is based on the country's fourth national development Plan (NDP4), which requires massive financial resources and skills. Based on the assessment of Namibia's development challenges, its strategic priorities and the Bank's comparative advantage, the new CSP aims to support the country's development agenda by focusing on two complementary pillars: (i) infrastructure with a focus on transport, energy and water; and (ii) private-sector development through skills development and improving the regulatory environment.

The pillars are anchored on the core operating priorities of the Bank's Strategy and are aligned with the key pillars of the NDP4. Bank support will contribute to inclusive and sustainable growth, which is shared goals of both the Bank's Strategy and NDP4.