(Business in Cameroon) - The World Bank announces that on April 19, 2021, it approved the release of $100 million (XAF54.3 billion) assistance for Cameroon. According to the Bretton Woods institution, this is the last of a series of three supports in the framework of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement between the IMF and Cameroon for the 2017-2020 period.
“As Cameroon is embarking on an ambitious program of reforms, this operation will support policy actions to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting public sector management, improving competition, and protecting the poor and most vulnerable,” comments Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank country director for Cameroon.
The World Bank explains that this assistance will help boost competitiveness in the country by reducing entry barriers, enhancing regulations in strategic sectors, and encouraging private investments in three industries: telecommunications, energy, and transports notably. “It will also improve the equity and efficiency in the allocation and use of health resources, as well as scale-up social protection,” the release published by the World Bank adds.
According to the Autonomous Sinking Fund (CAA) that manages Cameroon’s debt, thanks to the 3-year arrangement between Cameroon and the World Bank in the framework of the ECF, the country would receive about XAF396 billion of budgetary supports. In 2020, the country received close to XAF230 billion out of that amount, the same source explains.
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