5 September 2020. The Board of Directors of the West African Development Bank (BOAD) met for its 118th Ordinary Session, under the chairmanship of Mr. Serge EKUE, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chairman of BOAD. Like the previous session, the meeting was held by videoconference due to restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

After approving the minutes of its 117th meeting held on 24 June 2020, the Board considered and gave a favourable opinion to the Bank's new Strategic Plan for the five-year period 2021-2025. Divided into five (5) strategic axes, this Plan aims to enable the Bank to increase its impact in terms of development results, with a view to better contributing to the integration and transformation of West African economies. The plan will be submitted to the WAMU Council of Ministers for approval.

The meeting considered and approved the adoption of BOAD's interim accounts as at 30 June 2020, the General Guidelines for the updating of the 2020-2024 financial perspective and the preparation of the 2021-2023 programme budget. The Board approved 10 new medium- and long-term loans amounting to CFAF 84.9 billion, bringing BOAD's total commitments (all operations combined) since the start of its operational activities in 1976 to CFAF 6,177.7 billion.

The loans approved relate to the partial financing of the following projects:

–Promotion of inclusive finance for the access of low-income populations to financial services in Burkina Faso: the project aims to set up financial resources to support the Financial Inclusion efforts of the Burkinabe State for the benefit of low-income populations, micro and very small enterprises through the financial institutions of the decentralized financial system (DFS). Amount of the operation: 5,000 MFCFA.

–Second phase of the ouédo site servicing project in Benin: the objective of the project is to contribute to the improvement of the living environment and the reduction of poverty. Amount of the operation: 10,000 MFCFA.

Construction of 1,528 classrooms in Senegal as part of the Temporary Zero Shelter Program (PROZAP): the objectives of the project are to put about 28,560 disadvantaged children in good learning conditions and reduce the dropout rate by 50% in the schools concerned. Transaction amount: MFCFA 8,894.

–Development and asphalting of the Oréfondé-Matam road in Dandé Mayo Nord, as part of the Programme for opening up Agricultural and Mining Production Zones (PDZAM) in Senegal : the objective of the project is to contribute to the safeguarding and development of the road network in order to support growth economic of Senegal. Amount of the operation: 15,000 MFCFA.

–Establishment and operation of a cement plant by CIMCO SA in Togo : the objective is to contribute to the coverage of cement consumption needs in Togo and the sub-region through the geographical asset of the port of Lomé, and to contribute to the country's economic growth by improving the competitiveness of the industrial sector and the performance of the infrastructure sector. Amount of the operation: 20,000 MFCFA.

-Refinancing line for Coris Bank International Côte d'Ivoire (CBI CI): the line, intended for the refinancing of productive investment projects in sectors eligible for Financing by the Bank, is part of the third program initiated by KFW and BOAD to support micros, WAEMU small and medium-sized enterprises by improving their access to finance through the commercial banking sector. Amount of the operation: 10,000 MFCFA.

-Refinancing line in favor of Crédit du Sénégal (CDS): the line is part of the program to revive the activities of WAEMU companies following the health crisis related to Covid-19. Amount of the operation: 8,000 MFCFA.

–Refinancing line in favor of the National Bank for Economic Development (BNDE) in Senegal : the line is part of the program to revive the activities of WAEMU companies following covid-19. Amount of the operation: 8,000 MFCFA.

The Board also approved the following lines of credit mobilized from partners:

–Credit line from the OPEC fund to BOAD : this assistance will enable the Bank to finance its pipeline of projects in the sector of short-term operations (refinancing lines and agricultural campaigns in particular). Amount of the operation: 50 million euros, or 32.798 billion FCFA.

–Establishment of a competition from Société Générale and JP Morgan in favour of BOAD, guaranteed by MIGA : the resources mobilized will be used to finance the public and private sectors. As for the public component, an amount of 200 million euros, or 131.19 billion CFA francs, will be allocated to this sector, of which 50% (65.6 billion CFA francs) will be devoted to refinancing concessional loans granted by the Bank to States, while the remainder will be allocated to the financing of new projects.

For the private sector, €150 million, or CFAF 98.39 billion, will be allocated to: (i) SMEs via refinancing lines granted to commercial banks and (ii) short- and medium-term operations. Amount of the operation: 350 million euros, or 229.58 billion FCFA.

In addition, the Board of Directors approved the update of the procurement procedures and the rules for awarding contracts financed under the Bank's projects, the recovery status of loan receivables as at 31 August 2020 and the presentation note of the proposal DECLARATION of risk appetite from BOAD.

Finally, the Council took note of the following files, registered for information: Minutes of the 34th meeting of the Audit Committee; Performance evaluation of the portfolio of public projects financed by BOAD in Benin from 2000 to 2015: synthesis report; Status of the use of resources mobilized by BOAD as at 31 July 2020.

Closing the work, President Serge EKUE, on behalf of the Board of Directors, thanked all the stakeholders for their mobilization and the technical means made available for the holding of this session in the best conditions.