APA-Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) On Monday March 18, 2024, Robert Mambe, Prime Minister and Minister for Sport and the Living Environment, was granted an audience in Abidjan with a delegation from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank subsidiary responsible for financing the private sector.
Led by Sergio Pimenta, IFC Vice President for Africa, the delegation came to brief the Ivorian Prime Minister on the institution’s operations in Côte d’Ivoire. For the year 2023, the IFC has financed the Ivorian private sector to the tune of more than CFAF 125 billion.
“I think that this fiscal year, which will end in a few months’ time, we should reach the 400 million dollar mark (241.35 billion CFA francs), which is almost double our operations,” said Sergio Pimenta, who reaffirmed the IFC’s commitment to supporting Côte d’Ivoire’s private sector.
According to the IFC’s Vice President for Africa, the sectors covered by investments in Côte d’Ivoire include energy, agriculture, new technologies and support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Other sectors such as the development of capital markets, housing and real estate have been included on the list of priority sectors to be financed, explained Sergio Pimenta.
“The share of financing will really depend on the different opportunities. We are currently working on a public-private partnership in the affordable housing sector, and it is this kind of sector that we want to support so that we can provide 5,000 homes in this case,” he pointed out.
As far as the housing sector is concerned, he indicated that this project is “already a first step” for the institution, which plans to take it to a larger scale at a later date. Sergio Pimenta reassured the Prime Minister, who hoped to see the amount of investment double.
“The IFC teams are working with those of the World Bank to provide better support for the private sector in Côte d’Ivoire,” he emphasised at the meeting, which was attended by the Minister for the Economy, Planning and Development, Niale Kaba, and the Minister for Finance and the Budget, Adama Coulibaly.
Sergio Pimenta’s visit comes to an end in Côte d’Ivoire’s economic capital on Tuesday 19 March 2024.
AP/fss/as/APA