Through its Regional Integration Strategy for Central Africa, the Bank expects intra-regional trade to triple, from 2% to 6%, by 2025

ABIDJAN, Côte d'Ivoire, November 16, 2020/ — The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) opened a roundtable on Monday November 16 in Paris to raise 3.4 billion euros for the financing transport and energy infrastructure integration projects in its six member countries.

The round table, organized in a hybrid format (face-to-face and virtual) until November 17, aims to raise funds from bilateral and multilateral, traditional and emerging, public and private partners, in order to cover the financing needs of eleven projects. integrators to be carried out between 2021 and 2025 in the sub-region. Their total cost amounts to 4.072 billion euros, of which 596.74 million euros (14.65%) have already been mobilized. The financing gap therefore amounts to 3.48 billion euros (85.35%).

The scheme adopted consists of mobilizing, from institutional donors, loans at concessional rates or mixtures of loans and grants (“blended finance”) and the private sector for the implementation of PPP (public-private partnership) projects. The organizers also plan to attract Islamic finance, through SUKUKs.

“These projects for which we are requesting funding are part of the community recovery plan and in this respect reinforce the CEMAC economic and financial reform programme. This is because the private sector seems to us to be the most appropriate channel for an optimal allocation of resources and, moreover, in the face of debt constraints which require us to devote ourselves to the viability of public finances and debt, our States have opted for foreign direct investment to support their efforts to develop and structurally transform our economies”, underlined the President of the CEMAC Commission, Daniel Ona Ondo.

“In this regard, most of the projects presented during our round table are predestined for public-private partnership, for which we have in the sub-region clear examples of the success of this mode of infrastructure financing. »

Congolese Prime Minister, Clément Mouamba, representing Congolese President Denis Sassou N'Guesso, dedicated President of the CEMAC Economic and Financial Reform Program (PREF-CEMAC) stressed that "we are particularly looking for loans on concessional terms, or mixing loans and grants and private financing for the viability of certain projects in public-private partnership mode. »

“At the end of this round table, we hope for an exceptional mobilization of the various partners around all the major integration projects that will be presented by the ministers. The CEMAC sub-region opens its doors to you and wishes to establish with all its public and private partners, a mutually beneficial partnership,” said Mr. Clément Mouamba.

As a leading technical and financial partner for the development of infrastructure in Central Africa, the African Development Bank has already provided support for the conduct of studies necessary for the maturation of many projects included in the Consensual Transport Master Plan. in Central Africa (PDCT-AC), which is the subject of this round table. Over the 2015-2019 period, the Bank mobilized 1.13 billion euros (768 billion CFA francs) for transport sector projects in Central Africa. About 30% of this financing was devoted, mainly, to the development and renovation of road corridors between States in the sub-region.

Through its Regional Integration Strategy for Central Africa, the Bank is counting on a tripling of intraregional trade, from 2% to 6%, by 2025. The investments concern UA 3.2 billion ( 4.4 billion US dollars) in regional projects, with increased partnership with other donors and the private sector.

The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, whose speech was delivered by Solomane Koné, Acting Director General of the Bank for Central Africa, stressed "the importance of financing for the realization of major structuring projects in Central Africa in an economic context marked by budgetary tensions and State indebtedness; which requires a real strategic partnership between the States concerned, the Regional Economic Communities, the development financing institutions and the private sector, in particular”, he underlined. He was delighted with the large presence of the actors, despite a global context disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The Bank will build on its leadership in infrastructure development, dialogue and capacity building to attract co-financing, accelerate economic diversification, strengthen governance and facilitate structural transformations in Central Africa,” he said. he claimed in his statement.