Panafrican News Agency

World Bank approves US$400 million in financial support for Côte d'Ivoire

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The World Bank on Friday approved US$400 million financial support for reforms aimed at strengthening public and private investment, human capital, and the sustainable use of natural resources.

According to a World Bank statement, the first financing of the Investment for Growth Development Policy is a budget support operation to support Côte d'Ivoire's ambitious goal of doubling per capita income and reducing the poverty rate from the current 39.5% to 20% by 2030.

This funding will help the government implement policies to create the basis for sustainable and inclusive investment-led growth.

These include strengthening competition in growth sectors and domestic revenue mobilisation, expanding access to health and education services, and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources.

This budget support operation is aligned with the priorities identified by the World Bank Group in Côte d'Ivoire, including improving agricultural productivity and rural incomes, creating jobs through private sector-led growth, and developing human capital through improved service delivery and social spending.

In this context, the main reforms supported under public and private investment will improve sectoral competition policy and the regulatory framework, especially in network sectors such as transport, finance and telecommunications, which are vital inputs for the economy and consumers.

They will also focus on mobilising domestic resources to ensure debt sustainability and maximise the inflow of private investment.

Secondly, those envisaged for human capital accumulation should help strengthen the quality of basic education in all regions, mitigate the training-employment mismatch through more effective vocational skills systems, and promote stronger, inclusive and sustainable health insurance to ensure equitable access to health care, especially for the most vulnerable populations.

Finally, for the sustainable management of natural resources, the envisaged measures will support traceable and sustainable cocoa production, and ensure continued access to the EU market and rural livelihoods, as well as strengthen the economy-wide environmental regulatory framework, with particular attention to climate-vulnerable coastal areas.

-0- PANA NTDD/JSG/BBA/MA 9Dec2022