World Bank pledges $700 million more for Niger over five years
The new partnership strategy, launched by Niger's finance minister, is meant to create more and better jobs, especially for young people and women.
Niger's President, General Abdourahamane Tiani, received Ousmane Diagana, the World Bank's vice-president for West and Central Africa, in Niamey on Friday, 13 November, leading a large delegation. The talks covered the Kandadji Programme, a new partnership framework between the Nigerien state and the bank, agriculture and energy.
Diagana acknowledged that implementation of the Kandadji Project had been delayed for various reasons. A round-table with all partners, held on 11 November under the prime minister's leadership, produced agreements that he said should allow the project to restart quickly. He said the bank would mobilise about $700 million in additional public-sector resources during the strategy, on top of a portfolio of more than $4 billion already in Niger.
The five-year strategy is to fund structural programmes, including a major bank-backed scheme that gives young people access to credit to start small and medium enterprises. Diagana said electricity, agriculture and water were the three sectors that matter most for development, and cited the Mission 300 electricity initiative.
Why it mattersYoung people and women seeking to start small businesses in Niger will have access to bank-backed credit under the programme.