Burkina Faso, AfDB ink financing agreements of six projects

Burkina Faso and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed Monday 10 agreements for financing six projects in the West African country to the tune of $184 million.

Aboubakar Nacanabo, the country’s finance and economy minister indicated that the first conventions will provide funds for Water and Sanitation Services Improvement for Resilience Building Project (PASEPA-2R), project to promote hygiene, drinking water and sanitation and to strengthen the population’s resilience to COVID-19 and climate change in rural areas in eight provinces and in the outlying neighborhoods of Ouagadougou.

The three projects necessitate $48.6 million and will enable the government to improve access to sustainable drinking water, hygiene and sanitation services in the intervention areas and contribute to achieving universal access to drinking water and sanitation.

Another portion of the money, $135.5 million, will go for the financing of three other projects namely project for the integrated development of maize, soybean, poultry and fish value chains and resilience (PIMSAR); the emergency project to strengthen agricultural production in Burkina Faso; and project 2 of the program to strengthen resilience to food and nutrition insecurity in the Sahel.

The three projects will help develop corn, soy, poultry and fish value chains to strengthen food and nutrition security and address gender inequalities as well as support farmers to increase food production to mitigate the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Burkina Faso is largely dependent on its agriculture sector but the country, dogged by several years of insecurity caused by terrorists, is facing an acute food shortage, leaving thousands in food crisis.