BANGUI, March 9, 2017 – The World Bank’s Vice President for Africa, Mr. Makhtar Diop, will visit the Central African Republic (CAR) from March 10 to 12.
During this trip, Mr. Diop will meet with President, Faustin Archange Touadéra and other government officials, as well as development partners to discuss the partnership between the CAR and the World Bank. He will also deliver a speech before the National Assembly. This will be Mr. Diop’s first visit to the CAR since his appointment as the World Bank’s Vice President for Africa in May 2012.
“This visit is taking place at a critical time for the Central African Republic, when the country is seeking to build peace and reconstruct the nation. As the Central African Republic’s leading development partner, the World Bank, is ready to begin implementing the commitments made at the international donors’ conference held in Brussels last November,” said Mr. Jean-Christophe Carret, World Bank Country Manager for the CAR.
Discussions with the authorities will focus on key areas of the country’s development strategy. Accompanied by the President of the Central African Republic and the Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Mr. Diop will also travel to Bambari, the country’s second largest city, which is still beset by tensions linked to the presence of armed groups. The World Bank has undertaken to invest in the eastern and central regions of the country, with a view to opening up these regions, improving access to basic services for the populations, and creating jobs, by rehabilitating the road infrastructure and giving a boost to agriculture in particular.
At the conference in Brussels, the World Bank pledged $500 million in exceptional financing for the next three years to aid in the country’s rebuilding efforts following years of successive crises. Financing for this ambitious program, which is being partially covered by the International Development Association (IDA) turn-around facility, is ten times greater than the amounts the World Bank usually allocates to the Central African Republic.
