Gov’t Signs Financing Agreements With Two Lending Partners

The Daily Observer (Banjul)

28 April 2011

Mambury Njie, minister of Finance & Economic Affairs on Monday April 18th 2011, signed on behalf of the Republic of The Gambia, financing agreements with Mr. Bashir M. IFO, Ag. President of the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and Mr.

Macdonald Benjamin, Ag. Country Director of the World Bank Group for the financing of the completion of Soma-Mandinaba Road project and the 1st Phase of the West Africa Agricultural productivity Programme (WAAPP) respectively, a media dispatch issued by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs revealed.

The signing took place at the fringes of the Bretton-Wood Institutions’ 2011 Spring Meetings in Washington DC, United States of America. According to the release, the additional funding for Soma-Mandinada project financing agreement signed with EBID is a US$7.5 million [GMD213, 450, 000.00] concessional loan facility repayable in 30 years including a grace period of 9 years and attracts an interest rate of 3 percent per annum.

“The World Bank on the other hand provided IDA grant financing facility for the funding of the 1st Phase of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Project for an amount of SDR4, 600, 000 [US$7, 320, 434.52 OR GMD204, 936, 291.54], which is co-financed by the Multi-Donor Trust fund for Food Price Crisis response Core administered by the Bank,” the release noted.

Minister Njie, the dispatch noted, used the occasion to thank Development Partners and Management staff of EBID and the Bank for the support they continued to extend to The Gambia in meeting her development aspirations. He assured DPs of effective implementation compliance with covenants of the signed Agreements.

For their part, the development partners pledged continued support to The Gambia government given Gambia’s excellent track-record of performance and fulfillments of all her obligations to their institutions. The authorities of the Ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs on behalf of His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, the government and people of The Gambia expressed its appreciation to our dear development partners and assured them of its readiness to continue to cooperate with them for the benefit of The Gambian people.

Hon. Fatou Lamin Faye, minister of Basic & Secondary Education; H.E Mr. Alieu Ngum, Gambia’s ambassador & plenipotentiary to the United States of America; Mr. Amadou Colley, governor, Central Bank of The Gambia and senior officials of the ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs attended the signing ceremonies.

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