Niger secures $120 mln in World Bank financing
Fri, 13 May 2011 16:37 GMT
People walk at the Niger market junction in Conakry June 25, 2010. REUTERS/Luc Gnago
NIAMEY, May 13 (Reuters) - Niger has secured 55 billion CFA francs ($120 million) in financing from the World Bank for water, sanitation and anti-AIDS projects, the government said on Friday.
The deal could boost the efforts of new president Mahamadou Issoufou to develop the West African uranium-producing country, one of the poorest and most remote nations on the planet.
Some 45 billion CFA of the World Bank funds will be used to improve water distribution and trash pickup in urban areas, while the rest will go to combatting the spread of HIV/AIDS.
"These two projects are in line with Niger's priorities to accelerate development and reduce poverty," Planing Minister Amadou Boubacar Cisse said on national radio.
The deal was signed on Thursday, according to the broadcast.
After more than a year of military rule, Nigeriens elected Issoufou in March in a peaceful vote that observers said appeared to be free and fair.
But he faces an enormous challenge improving the lot of the country's 16 million people.
Niger is near the bottom of the United Nation's human development index and suffers from recurrent crop failures and food shortages.
Its natural resources, however, have drawn billions of dollars in oil and mining investments from companies like Areva <CEPFi.PA> and China National Petroleum Corp.
(Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi; editing by Richard Valdmanis)
Leave a comment:
IMPORTANT: Your comment will not appear immediately as we vet all messages before publication. We don't publish comments that are racist or otherwise offensive. Nor do we publish comments that advertise products or services. Please keep your comment concise and do not write in capitals.
Post a Comment
Post a Comment