The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers authorized this past Tuesday the granting of a thirty million euro credit to Côte d’Ivoire, under the Fund for the Promotion of Development (FONPRODE), to co-finance a World Bank investment project in favor of coastal regions and communities.
The purpose of the loan, with a thirty-year maturity and a sovereign debt guarantee, is to co-finance, together with the World Bank and the Ivorian government, the West Africa Coastal Areas-WACA Resilience Investment Project (ReSIP-WACA), a program of the World Bank and other financiers in six countries in the region (Benin, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal and Mauritania) to strengthen the resilience of coastal communities in West Africa. The program is aligned with the Strengthening Resilience in Ocean and Coastal Zones program promoted under the UN Climate Change framework.
The Ivorian project will be co-financed by the World Bank, which will provide US$30 million, and by FONPRODE, which will provide €30 million. The remaining funding of US$3 million will be provided by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire.
Although Côte d’Ivoire is not a country of association for Spanish Cooperation under the V Master Plan for Spanish Cooperation 2018-2021 (V PD), it is part of the West Africa region, which is a priority within the aforementioned Plan. In addition, the operation would be aligned with some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030, such as SDG 15 (Life of Terrestrial Ecosystems), in its target 15.1 (Ensure the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems); and SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth), in its targets 8.5 (achieve decent and quality employment) and 8.9 (promote sustainable tourism).
In addition, the operation required the analysis and approval of the Government’s Delegate Commission for Economic Affairs prior to its submission to the Council of Ministers, as Côte d’Ivoire is among the beneficiary countries of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt cancellation initiative.
