AfDB grants more than 52 billion CFA francs for road construction in Mali
The African Development Bank and the government of Mali signed a financing agreement for the construction of the Bourem-Kidal road, 285.83 km long and nicknamed "national unity road".
The financing agreement for 32.25 billion CFA francs was signed by the head of the Bank's country office in Mali, Ms. Haly Louise Djoussou-Lorng and the Prime Minister of Mali Boubou Cissé also Minister of the Economy and finances.
Costing a total of 87.30 billion CFA francs, this infrastructure project also benefits from support from the European Union for 46 billion CFA francs and from the Malian State for just over 9 billion CFA francs. This project, the objective of which is to contribute to the economic and social growth of the region by opening up areas in the north of the country, will enable the asphalting of the Bourem-Kidal road.
“This project is strategic for the political stability of Mali and the sub-region. The landlocked regions of Kidal and Bourem (Gao) are faced with food insecurity, weak land use planning, lack of viable jobs and lack of basic social services. The development of the road will provide a response to these factors of structural and endemic vulnerability, ” said Ms. Djoussou-Lorng.
“Infrastructure is essential for local and national development. Thanks to the support of the European Union and the African Development Bank, this road, which remained a dream, will be realized by the government of Mali for the opening up of the Gao and Kidal regions inside and outside " said the head of government. Malian specifying that "the tender documents to execute this project diligently have already been submitted to the Bank" for approval.
“Companies in the Kidal region will be closely associated with the execution of the works of this local and regional development project. In addition, the Bourem-Kidal road will benefit the development of all the regions of the north of the country which will now be linked to the Trans-Saharan road. In fact, this road will be extended to the Algerian border ”, added Mr. Cissé.
The Bourem-Kidal route represents the Malian branch of the Trans-Saharan route (RTS), an infrastructure at the center of economic, social, political and security issues across the continent. This road is in fact located on the Algiers-Lagos and Dakar-Djibouti trans-African corridors, priority axes of the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).
The High Labor Intensity Work (HIMO) approach will be favored for the acquisition of professional skills for young people from localities bordering the RTS2. Practical professional training is in particular planned for the constitution of a critical mass of technicians and skilled workers in the road trades, very important for Mali and this Sahelian zone. In addition, related equipment for women, young people and the rural world will be made available to the populations affected by the project.
Since the start of its operations in Mali in 1974, the African Development Bank Group has granted a total of 2 billion US dollars, of which 40% in grants and 60% in loans. The active portfolio of the Bank in Mali currently has 26 operations (23 in the public sector and 3 in the private sector) for a total amount of 600.3 million Units of Account (UA) or approximately 492.6 billion CFA francs.
The Bank's activities in this country cover in particular transport, agriculture, energy, governance, climate change and social development as well as the private sector.
