On April 15, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) endorsed the Regional Integration Strategy Paper for Central Africa (RISP) 2019-2025, the implementation of which requires an investment of US$4.421 billion.

Approximately 88 per cent of the planned funding will have to be used to strengthen regional infrastructure. Elements of the infrastructure and institutional capacity development plan will also contribute to strengthening the resilience of countries in the region. Specific operations will strengthen the fight against food insecurity, enable the socio-economic reintegration of vulnerable groups and preserve the ecosystems of the Congo Basin.

"The African Development Bank's continued support to Central Africa is essential to the successful economic integration of the countries of the region. The new Regional Integration Strategy Paper continues this tradition of support operations in key economic sectors," said Moono Mupotola, Director of Regional Development and Regional Integration at the Bank. Adding: "In the long term, it will give a great boost to intra-regional trade and the process of structural change that is essential to the political and economic environment. »

It should be noted that this strategy will also contribute to strengthening the institutional capacities of regional organizations, in particular those of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

It builds on lessons learned from the implementation of previous regional development initiatives. The document also lists the Bank's plans to accelerate intra-regional trade, inclusive economic growth and structural change in the Central African region. It will guide the AfDB's regional operations in seven ECCAS member countries: Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic, which have a total population of some one hundred and thirty million people.

Central Africa has significant oil resources, precious metal and mineral reserves, enormous transboundary water resources and the continent's greatest hydropower potential. to ensure that cross-border programs and initiatives are integrated into the planning and administration of public resources," said Ousmane Doré, Director General of the AfDB's Regional Development and Service Delivery Office for Central Africa.

The RISP is in line with the Bank's new Strategic Framework for Regional Integration, approved in March 2018, and its Ten-Year Strategy 2013-2022. It is also aligned with the regional priorities of ECCAS and CEMAC and the Bank's five main priorities.