WASHINGTON, December 13, 2022 – This morning, World Bank Group President David Malpass met with President Évariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi.
President Malpass welcomed President Ndayishimiye’s leadership in the East Africa region and reiterated the World Bank Group’s (WBG) commitment to supporting regional projects in trade, agriculture, and energy. President Malpass acknowledged President Ndayishimiye’s efforts to advance the peace-building process in the region amid ongoing security and economic challenges, and affirmed the WBG’s support for Burundi as it works to strengthen resilience to fragility and conflict via IDA’s Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) envelope.
President Malpass and President Ndayishimiye discussed Burundi’s macroeconomic performance and reforms needed to accelerate economic growth and poverty reduction, as well as to strenghten debt sustainability. President Malpass emphasized the importance of unification and stabilization of the exchange rate and a phase-out of central bank deficit financing as major steps toward stronger growth and lower inflation. President Malpass noted that progress in these areas would strenghten the private sector, develop digital system payments, and create more jobs, especially for the rapidly growing youth population. President Malpass and President Ndayishimiye also spoke about digital transformation of the state to improve transparency and accountability of the public sector and domestic revenue mobilization. They also discussed infrastructure constraints for Burundi, including railroads connecting to Tanzania and DRC, and highways, necessary to unleash the export potential.
President Malpass and President Ndayishimiye addressed Burundi’s high vulnerability to climate induced natural disasters and the need for scaled-up investment for climate resilience, with a focus on boosting climate-resilient livelihoods, land restoration and land rights and social cohesion in a post-conflict setting. President Malpass emphasized the need for integrating climate and development and affirmed to President Ndayishimiye the WBG’s support for the Burundi as it works to strengthen climate resilience.
