It is a total amount of 210 billion FCFA that the World Bank grants to the Ivorian government for the financing of three development projects. These are the Social Cohesion Project for the Northern Regions of the Gulf of Guinea (COSO), the Governance Improvement Program for the Delivery of Basic Services to Citizens (PAGDS) and the Preparedness and Response Strategy. to COVID-19 from Côte d’Ivoire.
To this end, this Friday, May 6, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adama Coulibaly and the Director of Operations of the World Bank, Mrs. Coralie Gevers, proceeded to the signature of the financing agreements for the PAGDS projects and the Côte d’Ivoire’s COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Strategy. The ceremony took place in the conference room on the 20th floor of the Sciam-Plateau building.
The Coso project in its technical aspect was initialed by the Director General of the Coton-Anacarde Council, Adama Coulibaly, present at the ceremony and Mrs. Boutheina Guermazi, Regional Director for the Integration of Africa, the Middle East and North Africa on behalf of the World Bank, from Washington.
Regarding the financial aspect of the Coso project, the signature was made between the Minister of Economy and Finance and Mrs. Boutheina Guermazi, who had already initialed the agreement from Washington.
For the PAGDS project, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adama Coulibaly indicated that the Ivorian Government, in its actions aimed at meeting the new challenges in terms of reforming key economic sectors and improving economic governance, requested and obtained the financial support of the World Bank to the tune of 85 million USD or 54 billion FCFA for the implementation of the said project.
This Project, he said, aims to strengthen the Government’s capacity in budgeting, procurement, improvement of targeted service delivery in education, management of road contracts and facilitation. access to financial services. Not without specifying that in view of the excellent results obtained from the first two years of the life of the Project, the international financial institution has granted additional financing in the amount of 110 million USD with a view, among other things, to strengthening strategic planning, results-based budgeting and procurement and mobilization of domestic resources.
With regard to the Coso project, which benefits from funding of 150 million USD, Minister Adama Coulibaly underlined that it covers the northern areas of Ghana, Togo, Benin and Côte d’Ivoire. “IT will make it possible to accelerate the pace of the structural transformation of our economy, to strengthen the inclusiveness of the economic performances achieved, and to progress towards a more participatory and strengthened governance of local authorities and communities, in the 10 regions concerned. It will also improve regional collaboration between the countries concerned in the face of issues of fragility, conflict and violence ,” he explained.
Finally, the third agreement, at a cost of 80 million USD, relates to the project of Strategic Preparedness and Response to COVID-19 in Côte d’Ivoire. The Minister of Economy and Finance recalled that this project was preceded by a first financing of USD 35 million in 2022, followed by a second for USD 100 million.
This project, noted Minister Adama Coulibaly, aims in particular to scale up the activities of previous support through the acquisition of additional COVID-19 vaccines (booster doses) and related consumables, provide mobile clinics to strengthen the deployment of vaccination in large informal markets and rural communities as well as the recruitment of new graduates from the National Institute for the Training of Health Workers as front-line contract health workers to strengthen the deployment of vaccines in outside of Abidjan.
For her part, the Director of Operations of the World Bank in Côte d’Ivoire, Mrs. Coralie Gevers, reiterated that the World Bank is committed to supporting Côte d’Ivoire in improving and promoting its economic development projects. and social.
