The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank approved, on Wednesday 22 July in Abidjan, budget support of US$284.8 million to support the efforts of the G5 Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad) in the implementation of their covid-19 pandemic response and economic recovery plans.

This financial support, provided under the US$10 billion Covid-19 Rapid Response Facility to help the Bank's regional member countries cope with the consequences of this pandemic, is broken down by country.

Burkina Faso will receive $54.6 million in financing, divided into a $27.3 million grant and a loan of the same amount, from the African Development Fund (ADF), the institution's concessional lending window.

A total of $48.9 million in financial assistance, consisting of $37.2 million in grants from the Technical Assistance Fund (TFF) and an $11.7 million loan from the ADF, will be allocated to Mali. Mauritania will receive a grant of $10.2 million and Niger a grant of $53.7 million and a loan of $55.1 million. Chad is receiving $61.2 million in financial support, entirely in the form of grants.

The programme is based on an integrated response to the health crisis based on the three interdependent axes of the G5 Sahel countries' response plans. These include health response and health system strengthening, social impact mitigation and support for economic resilience.

In addition, it will support urgent measures, including: increasing resources for health and strengthening countries' capacities in the screening and care of infected persons as well as the recruitment and training of health personnel; improving food security through subsidies for the prices of basic foodstuffs; cash transfers to very low-income households; and the implementation of tax breaks for the private sector to facilitate the resumption of their activities.

"This support is particularly important for the G5 Sahel countries already severely affected by a triple climate, humanitarian and security shock. It will make it possible to provide those countries whose financial capacities are severely strained by the sharp increase in security and humanitarian spending on the fight against terrorism and the reception of refugees with the budgetary space necessary to cope with the economic consequences, Additional social and health benefits from the Covid-19 pandemic and preserve gains in poverty reduction," said Marie-Laure Akin Olugbade, Bank Managing Director for West Africa.

Ultimately, the programme is expected to enable countries to develop better capacity to respond to public health shocks, increase the rate of vulnerable households receiving food assistance to at least 50%, and provide at least 130,000 companies with tax and other financial support. Female-headed households and businesses will be particularly targeted by the various measures of the programme.

"While immediate measures are implemented to better control the socio-economic consequences of the health crisis, the prospects for reviving growth and improving the fiscal framework in the area remain good. With this financing, the Bank intends to help the G5 Sahel countries prepare for and support their post-Covid-19 recovery," said Abdoulaye Coulibaly, Director of the Governance Department.

This budget support complements and reinforces other emergency financing provided by the Bank to countries in the region in response to Covid-19, including the Multinational Support Project for G5 Sahel member countries in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, approved June 9, 2020.

As of July 22, the G5 Sahel countries had 11,598 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 8,586 recoveries and 475 deaths.