World Bank pledges additional $170 million for projects

In addition to US 350 million it has allocated to Burundi for reconstruction and development, the World Bank has pledged an additional $170 million over the next two years, a bank official said on Thursday. Concluding a three-day visit to the country, the assistant head of the World Bank in charge of Africa, Gobind Nankani, said at a news conference in the capital, Bujumbura, that the bank was satisfied with the way the government was implementing projects it was funding. "Burundi has already reached the decision phase for the cancellation of its debt and the total cancellation stage will be reached very soon," he said. "The money from the debt cancellation will serve, in the future, in social sectors like education, health, public works and HIV/AIDS prevention and control," he added. Nankani said the World Bank would provide technical support, so that the funds could be managed properly. He said that to achieve total debt cancellation, three points would have to be taken into consideration: The way the Burundi government implements its poverty reduction projects; handles public expenditure; and how it manages the microeconomic aspect of the whole process. Nankani visited World Bank-funded projects in the central province of Gitega on Wednesday. They include HIV/AIDS prevention and control; the paving of roads; the rehabilitation of schools and health centres; and the supply of clean drinking water. "Projects managers told me the beneficiaries of the projects are happy with the work so far done in road paving, school and health centres construction and rehabilitation," he said. Three national organisations are running main projects financed by the World Bank. These include the National Council for the Fight Against HIV/AIDS whose aim is to provide prevention and control of the deadly disease by making antiretroviral drugs available; the TWITEZIMBERE project - financing the construction and rehabilitation of social infrastructures like schools and health centres as well as local micro projects; and the Public Works Project, which paves roads in the country's main towns. The three main projects funded by the World Bank, through its International Development Association (IDA), have been using the $350 million to undertake the projects nationwide in the last two years. IDA is one of Burundi's largest creditors.