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After six months of activity, the African Development Bank is reviewing the projects it financed in the Central African Republic. This year, it has injected nearly 400 billion CFA francs to finance promising projects, especially in the agriculture, transport and energy sectors. While some sectors have been successful in implementation, this has not been the case in the energy and transport sectors.
The assessment began by highlighting the poor capacity of central African governments to absorb funds. This weakness was estimated to account for more than 60% of total financing for growth-enhancing sectors. Six months later, a mission from the African Development Bank (AfDB) said that cumulative delays in disbursement of funds were among other obstacles.
“Fix these delays”
“There is a real absorptive capacity. There are certainly procedures, a certain number of rules that have to be followed. It is noted that there are delays. But the purpose of this semi-annual review is really to address those delays and see how we can make up for the delays that we have accumulated.” said Mamadi Soiré, ADB Resident Representative.
Although the country is struggling to meet its electricity needs, funds for the reinforcement of the Boali 2 nuclear power plant have not yet been absorbed. This weakness affects the project aimed at rehabilitating the Bangui-Mpoko airport. This gap did not leave indifferent the Minister of Economy, who raised his voice.
“What do we want this country to do?”
“We are finally completing energy-related projects. Especially Boali 2, which has financing, but we have not paid more than 60 percent. Although we are facing a power crisis. What do we want the country to do? We should check with them. We have funds to start the airport rehabilitation work. However, the expenditure is zero. For what? “, Richard Filacotta, the minister of economy, planning and international cooperation, protested.
On the other hand, the Minister of Economy, Planning and International Cooperation called on the relevant ministers to take responsibility. At the end of 2023, the World Bank announced the end of the Central African Republic Water Facilitation Project. The Bank also announced the return of more than 1 billion 200 million CFA francs that had not been used for the project. Prime Minister Felix Maulua has sent a request for explanation to the Minister of Energy and Water to understand why this money has not been used when some areas of the Central African Republic still have difficulty accessing drinking water.
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