French agency to finance key development projects

EAC secretary general Liberat Mfumukeko(right) on Monday held talks with France ambassador to Tanzania Frederic Clavier over the intended projects support.

What you need to know:

  • A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed soon by the two sides, it emerged here early this weeks during brief talks at the EAC headquarters

Arusha. France through its development agency is set to finance key regional projects in the East African Community (EAC) bloc.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed soon by the two sides, it emerged here early this week during brief talks at the EAC headquarters.

“French Development Agency (AFD) will support key EAC projects in different sectors,” a statement issued by the secretariat read. AFD is public development bank that works under the ministry of Finance and Foreign Affairs in Paris and is fully owned by the government.

The agency works in 100 countries and during the last financial year invested 10 billion euros, out of which 50 per cent was invested in Africa.

In the EAC region, it has invested 4.5bn euros (at bilateral level), of which 2.3bn euros was invested in Kenya.

EAC secretary general Liberat Mfumukeko on Monday held talks with France ambassador to Tanzania Frederic Clavier over the intended projects support.

When the discussions between the two sides was initiated in April, this year, the EAC secretariat presented a number of priority areas for consideration. It was agreed that an MoU be signed to articulate the priority projects which should be supported by French development agency.

Those cited include infrastructure and energy projects, harmonization of standards, customs interconnectivity and development of regional framework of public and private sector partnership.

The French delegation reiterated commitment to bring the French expertise on board to build high quality system that will interlink with private sector development in the EAC region. “Cooperation between EAC and France should focus on resolving challenges such as job creation through the private sector,” Mr Clavier said.

Other areas of interest include the environment, sustainable agriculture, sustainable cities, transport and water management.