The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) has just signed strategic agreements worth 100 million dollars (60 billion CFA francs) to boost the Beninese private sector and strengthen food security and combat climate change and support the development finance landscape in West Africa.

Dr Sidi Ould Tah, President of BADEA and HE Romuald Wadagni, Minister of State/Minister of Finance and Economy of Benin in the presence of His Excellency Gaston Cossi Dossouhoui, Minister of Agriculture, signed three strategic framework and loan agreements. The first agreement signed is a framework agreement for the protection of investments for private sector financing and investments made in the Beninese private sector. As a “preferred creditor” for private sector transactions. This comprehensive framework agreement aims to provide certain fiscal and legal protections and create a favourable investment environment to attract more capital in key sectors. This historic new framework agreement paves the way for new financing opportunities for BADEA's private sector in

The second agreement signed is a sovereign loan dedicated to financing the Republic of Benin's contribution to the capital increase of the West African Development Bank (BOAD) in the amount of 50 million dollars (30 billion CFA francs).

The third agreement signed aims to contribute to food security through a $50 million sovereign loan (30 billion CFA francs) allocated to the agricultural land development and climate change adaptation project in the lower Mono River basin.

About BADEA

BADEA is a multilateral development finance institution owned by 18 sovereign states, members of the League of Arab States, which began its activities in March 1975 providing funding and technical assistance for economic development exclusively in sub-Saharan Africa. BADEA strives to facilitate and catalyze the flow of Arab and other foreign capital and investment to Africa

Since 2015, the bank has also focused on trade - both Arab-African trade and intra-African trade. The Bank is an independent international institution with full international legal personality and complete autonomy in administrative and financial matters. It is governed by the provisions of its Constitutive Agreement and the principles of international law

The Bank was created with the aim of strengthening economic, financial and technical cooperation between the Arab and African regions and for the embodiment of Arab-African solidarity on the basis of equality and friendship, and remains one of the very few multilateral development banks whose mandate is to serve the countries that are not shareholders.