The World Bank Group has announced a new credit and grant initiative aimed at bolstering the health sector in Burkina Faso.
In a statement dated 24 January 2025, the World Bank announced that it had approved a credit of US$150 million or 93.8 billion FCFA from the International Development Association to Burkina Faso.
It also announced a grant of 17 million dollars, or 10.6 billion FCFA, from the Global Financing Facility (GFF) to finance the Health System Performance and Resilience Strengthening Project in Burkina Faso.
This amount, nearly 104 billion FCFA, aims to finance disease surveillance and the use of health and nutrition services for adolescents, women and children under five, the World Bank explained.
The initiative “will be extended to the entire country and will pay particular attention to internally displaced people and communities with limited access to health care,” it added.
The head of the GFF Secretariat, Luc Laviolette, expressed pride in seeing the GFF supporting the Burkinabe government “in building an effective and resilient health system, guaranteeing healthcare for these targets, including in the most fragile areas.”
“Access to healthcare for women, adolescents, and children is one of the most valuable investments governments can make to put countries on the path to development and prosperity,” he said.
World Bank resident representative in Burkina Faso, Hamoud Abdel Wedoud Kamil said the project aims to support government initiatives to strengthen resilience and manage current challenges in the health sector.
“It complements the recently approved Human Capital Protection Project, with US$100.4 million aimed at improving the provision of basic social services,” he said.
DS/te/lb/jn/APA