The African Development Bank (AfDB), and the Investment and Development Bank of the Economic Community of West African States (BIDC), recently signed a grant agreement for about  $950,000.

The AfDB said the grant agreement, signed on March 4, 2013, was to strengthen BIDC institutional capacities. The signing ceremony was chaired by Serge N'Guessan, the AfDB Resident Representative in Togo – and Bashir Ifo, EBID president – and was held at the inauguration of the AfDB national office in Togo.

According to the AfDB, “This grant will finance a technical assistance program allowing BIDC to implement its private sector operations strategy and processes, to reinforce its human capital and increase its resources mobilization.”

The grant was provided from the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA), funded by the Government of Japan, the AfDB, the Austrian Development Bank and the Government of Austria.

This grant is part of a large technical assistance program funded jointly with the French Development Agency (AFD), which provided 500,000 Euros to EBID in 2011 to improve its financial and risk management framework.

Bashir Ifo expressed his delight at the exceptional quality of cooperation between AfDB and EBID, and added that the recent grant signed between the two goes to illustrate the energy of this cooperation, and which will assist EBID to reinforce its private sector operations in the area.

He further added that this grant will also contribute to the optimization of EBID management capacities, by which the Bank will be able to be placed at a favorable level of performance.

At the signing ceremony, N'Guessan thanked both the Japanese and the Austrian Governments for their contribution to aid and boost the private sector development on the continent. The assistance will enable EBID to respond efficiently to the challenges of developing and sponsoring the growth of the private sector in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The success of the aid program will also pave the way for other interventions for EBID, an institution that represents the AfDB, which is an essential partner in fulfilling their shared mission.