The African Development Bank (AfDB) will grant Tunisia a loan of €122 million ($141.6 million) to back the second phase of its inclusive regional development support programme (PADRI-II), we learnt last Friday.

The PADRI whose first phase had been financed by the Bank, aims to stimulate growth in 16 governorates through a socio-economic inclusion support, while also focusing on local governance.

According to the pan-African bank, the programme aligns with two of its main priorities. “It will help boost public investment from 64% to 70% over the next five years, in the 16 concerned governorates,” said Mohamed El Azizi, AfDB’s managing director for Northern Africa. “Additionally, it will help reduce to less than 7% the proportion of the population living below the poverty line, with a direct impact on more than 240,000 households benefiting from social aid programmes,” he added.

Relations between Tunis and the AfDB are actually good. Since it was established, the institution has committed more than €1.6 billion ($1.86 billion) to the nation, out of which 20% where injected in social sectors.

Fiacre E. Kakpo