Tunisia receives $141 million from AfDB to finance inclusive regional development
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a loan of $141 million to Tunisia, intended to finance the second phase of the Regional Development Support Program. The ADB had funded the first phase of this program in 2016 .
This program aims to stimulate regional development in 16 priority governorates, through support for economic and social inclusion and the promotion of local governance.
Its objectives include improving the attractiveness of landlocked areas through the revival of public and private investment, promoting the employability of young people, facilitating access to health and social protection services, and improving living conditions of the populations.
PADRI-II is aligned with two of the ADB's five top priorities ("High 5"), namely " Industrialize Africa " and " Improve the quality of life of people in Africa ". It is part of the Strategic Development Plan of Tunisia (PSD 2016-2021) which, through the improvement of the business environment and the acceleration of productive diversification in particular, will promote the conditions of a sustainable, inclusive and job-creating growth.
"This program will increase public investment from 64% to 70% over the next five years in the 16 priority governorates ," said Mohamed El Azizi, AfDB Director General for North Africa. He added that it "will contribute to reducing by more than 7% the proportion of population living below the poverty line with a direct impact on more than 240 000 households benefiting from social assistance programs ".
Between 2011 and 2016, the AfDB financed four regional development support programs in Tunisia. This is the Governance and Inclusive Development Support Program; the Support Program for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Development; the Regional Development Support and Job Creation Program; and the Support Program for the Modernization of the Financial Sector. These operations helped to create the conditions for socio-economic stability conducive to Tunisia's democratic transition process.
As a reminder, in June 2017, the ADB Board of Directors approved the country strategy for 2017-2021, which sets out the context and the strategic framework for the AfDB's action in Tunisia. Thus, AfDB interventions will be articulated around two pillars: on the one hand, strengthen the industry and the development of value chains; and, on the other hand, to improve the quality of life of those in the priority governorates.
The partnership between Tunisia and the African Development Bank Group currently has 43 operations totaling € 1.6 billion in commitments, more than 20% of which are dedicated to the social sectors.
