The €300 million in funding announced by the Netherlands will be disbursed by the Dutch company Invest International. The memorandum of understanding was signed on 2 October 2023 between the Ivorian Minister for the Economy and Finance, Adama Coulibaly, and Invest International’s Director of Public Infrastructure, Lara Muller, who said that “the memorandum of understanding provides for an investment programme of which 35% of the total amount will be made up of a grant and 65% of a concessionary loan meeting the main national priorities in four areas”.
These are access to drinking water, the fight against coastal erosion, the development of the port sector, and health. “The Netherlands is Ivory Coast’s leading trading partner in terms of exports of our main product, cocoa. So, it’s only natural that we should be able to develop closer relations with them”, said Adama Coulibaly.
Additional funds for the “Water for All” programme
As far as drinking water is concerned, part of Amsterdam’s substantial funding package will be used to accelerate a number of ongoing initiatives, including the “Water for All” programme launched in 2020.
In line with the sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG6), this initiative aims to achieve universal drinking water coverage in Ivory Coast by 2030. To date, the West African country has an access rate of 70% in rural areas and 80% in urban areas, according to official figures.
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The fight against coastal erosion, another key project in Alassane Dramane Ouattara’s 2021-2025 National Development Programme (NDP), will be stepped up thanks to funding from the Netherlands. For the record, Ivory Coast’s 556km coastline (from Cap des Palmes in the south-west to Cap de l’Est) is under increasing threat from the sea, which is gaining ground, causing major material and human damage.
One of the major coastal protection initiatives underway in Ivory Coast is the West African Coastal Zone Resilience Investment Project (WACA ResIP). This is the first investment project under the West African Coastal Area Management Programme (WACA), which aims to contribute to the sustainable development of the coastlines of six countries in the sub-region: Benin, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal and Togo.
Inès Magoum