Congo Republic in Talks for World Bank, AfDB Budget Support

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Republic of Congo’s government is in talks with the World Bank and the African Development Bank to provide about $200 million of budget support to ease an economic crisis in the oil-producing nation.

The discussions, which are in the “final stages,” are among a series of negotiations the government is holding about funding, Communications Minister Thierry Moungalla said by phone Friday from the capital, Brazzaville. Congo owes creditors at least $9.14 billion and sought support from the International Monetary Fund last year, when the economy shrank for the second consecutive year following a slump in crude prices.

France agreed to loan Congo 136 million euros ($159 million) in the event that support is forthcoming from the IMF, Moungalla said. The fund said in April it’s reached a “broad understanding” with the government about an aid program.

Congolese Finance Minister Calixte Nganongo on Thursday signed a 17 billion-CFA-franc ($29 million) five-year loan agreement with the World Bank that will finance a program to foster competition among small- and medium-sized businesses.

‘Diversifying Economy’
“This project’s aim is to help Congo meet the challenge of diversifying its economy by improving the business environment and the institutional capacity to implement reforms,” World Bank Country Director Jean-Christophe Carret said in the capital, Brazzaville.

Another $24 million accord is being negotiated to fund capacity building in statistics collection in the central African nation, Nganongo said.

Earlier this week, the European Union disbursed 300 million CFA francs to the government to support displaced people in Congo’s southern Pool region. Thousands of people in the area have been forced to flee their homes because of a conflict between government forces and a former rebel leader known as Pastor Frederic Ntumi, according to Amnesty International, the London-based advocacy group.

Source: Bloomberg Business News