France has on Monday delivered on its promise made in Brussels by signing a €50 million grant with The Gambian government.
Finance minister Mambury Njie, and Rémy RIOUX, Chief Executive Officer of the Agence Française de Dévelopement (AFD) have signed an agreement laying down the framework of further activities of AFD in The Gambia.
The signing was done on Monday at the State House in the presence of Ousainou Darboe, Vice-President of the Republic of The Gambia and Jean-Yves LE DRIAN, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Further to the 2017 democratic transition in The Gambia, the Government of France has expressed its willingness to work toward the renovation of its diplomatic and economic relations with the country.
During the International donor Conference for The Gambia in Brussels in May 2018, France pledged to support the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP), with 50 M EUR to be disbursed over 2018-2021.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed today between AFD and the Government of The Gambia lays ground for areas of cooperation, and particularly for AFD to finance projects and programs to the benefit of the Gambian population.
In the short-term, up to 30 M EUR programs are being discussed to assist the country economic stabilization through budget support, to support agriculture with the objective to increase food sufficiency and to improve access to water in urban areas to develop sustainable public services.
In the medium term, as expressed in the agreement, AFD and The Gambia will increase their cooperation in, among other, the fields of sustainable development, fight against climate change, governance, youth employment and gender equality, to match the 50 MEUR committed to support the country’s NDP over the 2018-2021 period.
The agreement further encourages the Government of The Gambia to restore the country’s economy for sustainable and inclusive economic growth with the continued support of the International Monetary Fund.
About the Agence française de développement
AFD is France’s inclusive public development bank. It commits financing and technical assistance to projects that genuinely improve everyday life, both in developing and emerging countries and in the French overseas territories. Our action is fully in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through its network of 85 agencies, AFD operates in 109 countries, where it is currently financing, supervising and supporting over 3,600 development projects. afd.fr
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