France backs infrastructure projects in the Ivory Coast by easing debt

14 December 2009

This week saw the signing of an agreement in Abidjan for the restructuring of the debt between France and the Ivory Coast in an amount of 456 million Dollars.

“I want to assure you of the determination of the Ivory Coast to assign as a priority the resources freed by the easing of this debt to the financing of benefits for the poor and for basic infrastructure projects”, declared Minister of the Economy Charles Diby Koffi, quoted in the daily Nuit&Jour.

This financial aid comes a few days after the European Union pledged financial support of more than 17 million Dollars for several sectors, among them infrastructures.

“The direct effects of this support will be .... to facilitate the re-engagement of the EU in the financing of the economy, particularly in the energy sectors”, the head of the European Union delegation in the Ivory Coast, Michel Aarion, stated at a press conference.<br/>