AfDB Board approves Strategy Papers for Equatorial Guinea and DRC

By African Development Bank (AfDB)
AfDB Board approves Strategy Papers for Equatorial Guinea and DRC
AfDB Board approves Strategy Papers for Equatorial Guinea and DRC

TUNIS, Tunisia, July 18, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group (http://www.afdb.org) met on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 in Tunis, and approved country strategy papers for Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.


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The main objective of Equatorial Guinea's Country Strategy Paper is to accompany the country's economic and social transformation through human capital development promotion and inclusive, sustainable growth.


The CSP is hinged on a single pillar – Promoting Human Capital Development and Capacity Building for Economic Transformation.


In approving the document, the Board emphasized the need for increased dialogue with the government in the areas of inclusive economic governance, and effective Bank presence in the country through the deployment of staff in the capital, Malabo.


Under the new strategy, the Bank's assistance is targeted to foster diversified and inclusive growth as well as poverty reduction. Specifically, it will help to achieve the following outcomes: (i) human resource and institutional capacity building; (ii) improvement of access to basic social services by the population; (iii) job creation, notably for youths; (iv) improvement of budget programming, execution and monitoring; and (v) national statistical capacity building.


The strategy is closely aligned with the objectives of the second phase of the country's National Economic and Social Development Plan (NESDP). It is also in line with the Bank's operational priorities outlined in its 2013-2022 Strategy; its Regional Integration Strategy Paper (RISP) 2011-2015 for Central Africa, as well as the guidelines of its 2013-2017 Private Sector Development Strategy. The CSP builds on the guidelines of the 2008 Strategic Framework for Strengthening Bank Group's Support to Middle Income Countries.


Democratic Republic of Congo Country Strategy Paper 2013-2017


The main objective of the Bank's operations strategy for Democratic Republic of Congo is to help to lift the country out of its fragile situation by creating the conditions for strong and inclusive growth induced by the increased momentum of the economy's productive sectors.


The CSP is built around the following two complementary pillars:


(i) Development of private investment and regional integration support infrastructure;


(ii) Building central government's capacity to increase public revenue and create an enabling framework for private investment.


The infrastructure pillar will be implemented to provide a spin-off effect on the growth of private investment in the productive sectors of the economy, while Pillar 2 will be dedicated to building the central government's capacity to provide stronger economic governance that is conducive to private investment. This relationship between the two CSP pillars will be supported by PPP pilot projects in the productive sectors, especially in the agricultural sector.


Closely aligned on the Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy Paper (PRGSP) objectives and taking into account the Bank's comparative advantages, the CSP adopts a spatial approach focused on support to one of the Government's five priority development zones. This approach aims to ensure the efficient use of available resources and maximization of its interventions through the implementation of integrated operations. The CSP also takes into account the thrusts of the Bank's new 2013-2022 Strategy, the 2011-2015 Regional Integration Strategy Paper (RISP) for Central Africa and its Strategy for Enhanced Engagement in Fragile States.


At the national level, priority will be given to sustainable infrastructure development to boost economic growth such as energy, transport and rural tracks in the Central Zone around the Ilebo-Tshikapa-Kananga-Mbuji-Mayi area.


The CSP will also provide support to the pursuit of appropriate reforms aimed at improving central and sector governance, improving the business climate with a view to enhancing the overall performance of the economy and building the public administration's capacity to steer the economy and induce increased private sector investment in wealth and job creation.


Regionally, the CSP's strategic options are guided by DRC's privileged location in Central Africa, especially its size, its common borders with nine other countries and its huge natural potential, which offer exceptional regional integration-related benefits, especially in terms of commercial exchanges with the other countries of the region.


Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of the African Development Bank (AfDB).


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