September 25th, 2009
Story: Ekoue Blamé, Lomé
The Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development, EBID broke its lending tradition when it offered a helping hand to the Malian government with a loan of 3 billion CFA francs for the tarring with bitumen of a highway in Mali that connects the fishing region of Mopti to Burkina Faso ,the Port of Tema Ghana as well as Cotonou in Republic of Benin.
The highway is famous for its role in the exportation of fish produced in the Mopti region of Mali and Ouahigoya in Burkina Faso, and the it has been dubbed “ the Fish Highway” or “Route du Poisson”.
For the geostrategic position of the highway, the latest loan granted to the Mali government by the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development for its rehabilitation has been hailed as “a step in the right direction” by Malian Minister Lassine Bouaré.
At a short but impressive ceremony marking the signature of the loan at the EBID Headquarters in Lome , President of the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development Christian Adovelande described the project as “an essential priority for the modernization of the road network in Mali”.
“The improvement of the state of the roads will permit the reduction of transport fares and also help to redynamize the level of trade between the regions of Mopti in Mali and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso” , declared the President of EBID.
Addressing the attendees of the loan agreement’s ceremony on behalf of the Mali government Lassine Bouaré the Malian Minister Delegate in Charge of the National Budget said the loan will help enhance the inter-trade in the region after repairs have been carried out on the road to enable Mali gain access to the ports of Lome in Togo, Cotonou in Benin and Tema in Ghana.
He also expressed the need for the management of EBID to introduce a system that will make the bank’s loans more accessible and more attractive to the public sector which is not commercial oriented taking in this time of recession.
The loan agreement brings to 18,5 billion CFA francs to the total financial contribution of the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development in Mali.
Other two major projects including an Electric interconnexion project which will connect Mali to Ivory Coast at the cost of 30 million US Dollars and a highway Round About project valued at the cost of 3,5 billion CFA francs will be financed by EBID in Mali.
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