ADB grants Brazzaville US $1.22 million to fight Ebola

The government of the Republic of Congo and the African Development Bank (ADB) have signed two grant agreements worth US $1.22 million to help the government fight against Ebola, an hemorrhagic fever prevalent in the country, and for a management capacity building project, the bank announced on Monday. "The signing of these two agreements highlights the Bank Group’s commitment to support Congo’s development efforts after the critical period that the country underwent," Olabisi Ogunjobi, the ADB vice-president in charge of west and central African operations and microfinance, said. Ogunjobi and the ambassador of the Republic of Congo in Paris, Henri Lopez, signed the agreements on Friday, the bank reported. The bank said the first grant of $500,000 would be used to reinforce surveillance and epidemiological control of Ebola in the West-Valley District of the country. The bank's board of directors had approved this grant on 26 May. The ADB aid would help the government improve the health conditions of the Congolese population through better control of the epidemic, and would complement the actions of the government and other development partners to improve the handling of Ebola cases. It would also reinforce the prevention of infection through social mobilisation. The African Development Fund’s board of directors approved the second grant of $720,000 on 17 September for a post-war economic management capacity building support project in the country. This project is aimed at strengthening the capacity to formulate and execute economic policies in the country, the bank reported. "It will permit [the government] to consolidate macroeconomic projections, with emphasis on the development of human resources, improvement of procedures and the provision of working tools," the bank reported. Ogunjobi was quoted as saying that the signing of the grants took place at a time when there was a resurgence of the Ebola epidemic in the country. He added that the bank was "willing to accelerate" all the procedures in order to make provide maximum preventive impact. "The signing of these two agreements is an important milestone for Congo," Lopez said. He added that the sectors of health and financial management constitute two crucial elements for Africa's development.