afrol News, 15 September - The government of Guinea has secured a grant of US$ 3.7 million or 17.7 billion Guinean francs to finance the fight against rampant corruption paralysing the country. The "capacity building" programme financed by the grant could prove vital to secure the renewal of economic aid from the IMF, World Bank and other major donors that have put aid for Guinea on ice.

The African Development Fund (ADF) and the government of Guinea today signed an agreement in the Tunis headquarters of the ADF to finance the Guinean "Support Project for Capacity Building in Debt, Public Investment and Control Institutions Management (PADIPOC)," which has fighting corruption as one of its main aims.

The agreement was signed by the ADF's Vice President in charge of sector operation, Zeinab El Bakri and Senior Minister in charge of the Economy and Finance, Madikaba Camara for the Guinean government. Speaking after the ceremony, Ms El Bakri stated that the overall objective of the grant is to enable the Conakry government "improve public resource management and promote good governance, thereby contributing to poverty reduction."

"The Bank therefore encourages the government to strengthen its efforts to reduce delays in the ratification [of the agreement] and to abide by the project implementation schedule and by so doing improve the rate of disbursement, which has never risen beyond 20 percent on average in the active portfolio," she said.

She further commended the decision of the Guinean government to set up a structure to conduct quarterly reviews of the ADF's operations in Guinea and to systematically en ensure strict follow-up of its recommendations.

Commending the Bank for the grant, the Guinean minister assured the funds would be put to good use. "With this new agreement I am happy to announce that the interventions of the [ADF] in the Republic of Guinea has risen to US$ 820 million," Mr Camara said.

According to the ADF, the project is expected to "strengthen, streamline and enhance the efficiency of public resource management by the National Debt and Public Investments Directorate. It will also improve the management of public resources by the General Inspectorate of finance, the Accounts Chamber, and the Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs of the National Assembly; as well as combat corruption."

The public finances of Guinea have been shattered by rampant corruption, incompetence and inability to meet with donors' demands. Burdened with high debts and decreasing revenues, Guinea's economy fell even deeper as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank severed relations due to poor governance and corruption.

This in turn scared off other donors. The only way out of the misery is by improving governance and start fighting corruption. One of the few international financial institutions to remain engaged in Guinea is the ADF, which forms part of the African development Bank (AfDB) Group.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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