Very often relegated to the background, Ivory Coast's secondary towns will be able to step up their urban development thanks to a €282.7 million loan from the World Bank to improve the living conditions of their populations.
This was one of the key announcements of the latest Council of Ministers meeting in Ivory Coast. The government of this West African country has obtained 185.5 billion CFA francs (282.7 million euros) from the World Bank to implement the Sustainable and Inclusive Development of Secondary Cities Project (PDVS). The funding will be used to build a number of infrastructures.
In particular, the work will involve rehabilitating drainage facilities to improve sanitation, setting up solid waste management centres, developing green spaces and leisure sites dedicated to culture and sport. The beneficiary municipalities include Odienné, Ouangolodougou and Tengréla in the north, Boundiali located 696 km from Abidjan, Ferkessédougou, renowned for its hospitality, Korhogo with a population of 440,000, Man, nicknamed the city of 18 mountains, and Bouna on the border with Ghana.
“The PDVS will help to combat fragility and strengthen social cohesion by encouraging the active involvement of local authorities and communities. It is consistent with the objectives of the new Partnership Framework between the World Bank Group and the Ivorian government, in line with its National Development Plan (NDP). The second pillar aims to promote resilience through the construction of sustainable infrastructure and the rational management of natural resources”, explains Coralie Gevers, the World Bank’s Director of Operations for Benin, Guinea, Togo and Ivory Coast.
Support from development partners
According to Amadou Coulibaly, Ivory Coast’s Minister for Communication and the Digital Economy, these investments, which focus on social inclusion and the well-being of the population, will help to improve the economic health of these territories, which are plagued by unemployment and inequality. “The aim is to strengthen the resilience of secondary towns in the face of climate risks,” explains Amadou Coulibaly.
Read also-Ivory Coast: financed by France, the Abidjan metro will be put into service in 2024
The State of Ivory Coast is also counting on the financial and technical support of other development partners to continue its war against disparities between regions, particularly in terms of access to basic services. It is in this context that the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Commission of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) are co-financing the water and sanitation programme in a number of localities in Ivory Coast. In 2022, for example, the initiative enabled the construction of a drinking water supply (AEP) at Kokaha in the Korhogo division. The facility has a production capacity of 88 m3 per day.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
