(Ecofin Agency) - World Bank will lend $482 million to Benin to help it finance the government action plan (PAG). This was revealed yesterday by Pierre Laporte, World Bank’s Country Director for Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Togo.

The loan which will be granted for 2018-2023 is part of a new cooperation agreement between the two parties.

Thanks to it, World Bank expects to foster structural transformation and enhance the competitiveness and productivity of the country’s economic environment in the next five years. Likewise, strengthening human capital and economy resilience, as well as reducing climate-related vulnerabilities are the last two axes of this new funding agreement.

Apart from this loan, the Bretton Woods institution plans to mobilize additional resources to finance projects in this plan, called “Benin révélé”, which will require CFA9039 billion between 2016 and 2021 for its implementation, according to estimates.

Let’s recall that World Bank has already disbursed more than $700 million in Benin. These funds were mainly used to support local and urban development, environment, telecommunications, youth employment, energy, access to drinking water and transport projects.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou (intern)