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A monitoring committee on cooperation between the government of Burkina Faso and the African Development Bank held its first session on 8 September 2023. The meeting was held in Ouagadougou at the instigation of the country's Minister for the Economy, Finance and Planning, Aboubakar Nacanabo.
Mr Rodolphe Bansé, technical adviser to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Planning, and Mr Daniel Ndoye, African Development Bank Country Manager for Burkina Faso, led their respective delegations.
The committee is tasked with ensuring compliance with the implementation and initial disbursement conditions of the agreements signed within the agreed period. Its missions also include monitoring and assessing the level of physical and financial implementation of the Bank's country portfolio, identifying difficulties and making proposals to improve portfolio performance.
The meeting's agenda included: the establishment of contact between committee members, updating the applications submitted to the Transitional Legislative Assembly and the outlook for funding.
Despite a challenging security context (particularly for road projects), the portfolio has made significant progress. Nonetheless, better preparatory studies are needed for projects submitted to the Bank. Compliance with contract award, financial management, disbursement, gender and environmental protection procedures are other areas for improvement.
The Bank Group's active portfolio in Burkina Faso, valued at $825 million, covers 21 projects. These cover the transport (31 percent), energy (30 percent), agriculture and the environment (29 percent), water and sanitation (8 percent) and the social (2 percent) sectors.
Two key priorities will guide the Bank's actions in Burkina Faso in 2022-2025. The first is strengthening sustainable infrastructure that is resilient to climate change to drive inclusive and green growth and economic competitiveness. There is particular focus on the transport, energy, water and sanitation sectors, in this regard.
The second priority is agricultural value chains to strengthen the resilience of the economy by providing a sustainable response to food insecurity, supporting the resilience of households that rely on agro-forestry and pastoralism and encouraging job creation in the sector for young people, women and internally displaced persons.
The monitoring committee is the result of recommendations that emerged as a result of a 16 May high-level dialogue mission to Ouagadougou led by the Bank's Deputy Director General for West Africa Joseph Ribeiro. Following that mission, Minister Nacanabo promised that his department would set up a framework for further dialogue.
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