World Bank Group’s New Strategy Supports Côte d’Ivoire in Boosting the Economy and Eliminating Long-Standing Disparities | WPN World People News

The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors Tuesday endorsed a Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Côte d’Ivoire for 2015-2019. The CPF proposes a World Bank lending program of up to US$1 billion and International Finance Corporation (IFC) financing of up to US$1 billion over a four-year period. It will support Côte d’Ivoire in creating a competitive and inclusive economy, while MIGA is open to analyzing new guarantees.

“Today we made history. Indeed, with this new CPF, our Institution as a group has now and for the first time in more than fifty years of partnership with Côte d’Ivoire, a unique and unified strategic framework to support the country development agenda. This CPF brings innovation through a combination of well targeted financing instruments, technical assistance and knowledge to help the country become an emerging economy while tackling causes and residual consequences of fragility. The Bank, IFC and MIGA will put together resources and competence to create conditions for private sector led growth which is sustainable and inclusive through job creation and poverty reduction," said Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Country Director for Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Guinea.

The Board welcomed Côte d’Ivoire’s current climate of renewed stability to modernize the economy and eliminate long-standing disparities aggravated by a decade of crisis, during which the Bank had to suspend its operations four times. The CPF presents a strategy aligned with the World Bank Group’s twin goals of reducing poverty and increasing shared prosperity. During the past four years, Côte d’Ivoire has made an impressive transition from crisis to relative stability, and from fragility and low equilibrium, through stabilization, to aspiring emerging economy status.

“The CPF will feature a mix of instruments, drawing on the strengths of the three institutions of the WBG, to provide Côte d’Ivoire with a package of assistance to best address the country’s ambitious development objectives while also mobilizing substantial private sector financing,” said Cassandra Colbert, IFC Country Manager for Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali and Sierra Leone.

The CPF reflects two pathways and five prerequisites identified in the Systematic Country Diagnostic to achieve the goal of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The first entails the creation of better quality jobs through sustainable private sector-led growth in agriculture, agribusiness and the non-agribusiness sectors. The second pathway to attain inclusive growth is to build human capital by improving the efficiency and quality of spending in education, health and social protection and improving access to basic services, while strengthening the quality of labor needed for private sector growth. The five main prerequisites are: (a) continued social and political stability; (b) macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability; (c) land market reform; (d) financial sector development and inclusiveness; and (e) improved governance.

The World Bank currently supports 14 active projects (including three regional) in Côte d’Ivoire with a commitment of US$750 million, while IFC has a committed portfolio of US$1,237 million, and MIGA is currently supporting transformational infrastructures through its guaranties.

Source: World Bank