|
H.E. Mr. Abdelaziz Khelef, Director General
of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) arrived on Friday
9th March 2007 at Niamey, the capital of the Republic of Niger, as part of a
regional visit to the Republics of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso extending from
9th March to 19th March 2007.
During his visit to the Republic of Niger, he
will be received by H.E. the President of the Republic of Niger, in addition to
the Minister of Economic and Finance, and other high-ranking government
officials.
Talks will cover areas of cooperation between
the Republic of Niger and BADEA, with the objective of exploring the best means
to promote and develop the relations and realize the objectives of development
in Niger.
During the visit to Niger the Director
General will sign a loan amounting to US $ 2.42 million to finance reinforcement
of the means of the services plant protection and the agricultural products
stored in Liptako Gourma area project, which is a regional project located
between the three countries. The Director General will also visit some of
projects that financed by BADEA.
By the end of December 2006, BADEA’s
assistance to Niger reached the sum of US $ 67.815 million to finance 26
development operations.
BADEA’s financing operations have grown since
1975, to reach US $ 3174.52 million by end of December 2006. These include loans
provided through SAAFA (Special Arab Aid Fund for Africa) amounting to US $
214.2 million, and have been earmarked to finance 402 development projects, 374
technical assistance operations, 26 loans for the private sector and 14 special
operations (in the context of Emergency Aid Programme operations for the benefit
of several African countries effected by drought and desertification), in
addition to 59 loans extended through SAAFA.
BADEA’s operations cover all 43 eligible countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, in
addition to a number of regional organizations. They cover infrastructure,
agriculture, rural development, energy, industry, social and financial sector in
the form of project loans and technical assistance grants.
The projects
selected by BADEA are directed towards improving the living conditions of the
target beneficiaries, particularly those projects related to rural development
and environment, such as rural water supply and sewage, or those aiming at
reducing negative impact of drought and desertification, and reducing poverty.
This is obviously in line with current approaches to development. |
