The government of Niger expects a total of CFA675 million (about $1.1 billion) from the World Bank to fight the coronavirus pandemic this year. The information was reported by the country’s Finance Minister, Mamadou Diop (pictured), following an online meeting held on July 8 between President Issoufou Mahamadou and Ousmane Diagana, the new vice-president of the World Bank for West and Central Africa.

In Niger, the pandemic has caused a loss of nearly CFA200 billion in tax revenues and the most affected sectors include tourism, hotels, and transport. To curb this situation, the government has requested additional support from the World Bank, in addition to the CFA675 million already agreed. “We are negotiating additional emergency assistance of $250 million from the World Bank and we hope that the response will be positive,” the Finance Minister said.