By Tochukwu Bliss, Abuja
The West African Development Bank (BOAD), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently held a high-level working session at BOAD’s headquarters in Lomé, Togo, to further strengthen their partnership in support of transformative projects driving growth and job creation.
This revolves around an ambitious agenda aimed at strengthening their cooperation in key sectors for regional development: energy, agriculture, natural resources, and innovative financing instruments.
This meeting, under the leadership of President of BOAD, Serge Ekué, and IFC Vice President for Africa, Ethiopis Tafara, brought together the regional and sectoral management teams of both institutions.
The institutions, in a statement noted that for several years, BOAD and the IFC have maintained a strong partnership, evidenced by high-impact co-financing operations supporting private sector development across the subregion.
This collaboration aligns with both institutions’ strategies to address key challenges facing the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), including improving access to energy, ensuring sustainable natural resource management, and advancing agricultural transformation.
This meeting therefore marks a new milestone in strengthening this collaboration and paves the way for enhanced initiatives aimed at fostering inclusive and sustainable development.
Structured discussions around four priority areas, including agriculture and food security; energy and natural resources; innovative financing; and affordable housing.
This meeting marks a new milestone in strengthening this collaboration and paves the way for enhanced initiatives aimed at fostering inclusive and sustainable development.
The two institutions explored collaboration opportunities under the World Bank Group’s Global AgriConnect (GAP) initiative, as well as the feasibility of issuing WAEMU sustainable bonds backed by the cashew value chain—an innovative instrument for the region.
In the area of energy and natural resources, discussions focused on co-financing opportunities in renewable energy and gas projects, as well as sustainable water resource management.
On innovative financing, the teams assessed the feasibility of a cross-currency XOF–EUR financing mechanism, a novel initiative designed to expand the financing capacity of both institutions in the sub-region.
Finally, focus was also on opportunities to support affordable housing financing for populations across WAEMU member countries.
Towards a concrete action plan following the meeting, the two institutions agreed on a concrete action plan outlining priority co-financing projects, the terms of BOAD’s participation in the GAP initiative, and a roadmap for developing envisaged innovative financial instruments.
This strategic dialogue reflects the shared vision of BOAD and IFC to further contribute to reducing poverty, creating jobs, and improving living conditions across WAEMU.
