The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates Africa’s annual financing needs to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at around USD 600bn per year [1] – i.e. about a third of the gross national income of African countries. Out of these USD 600bn, some USD 170bn would be necessary to finance infrastructure alone.
In view of the fact that the amounts provided by Official Development Assistance are lower and that it is impossible for many of these economies to borrow at such high levels, the African Union wanted to increase the mobilisation of African internal resources. Agenda 2063, which was adopted in 2015, therefore plans to double the contribution of African capital markets to the development of the continent and encourage countries to set up innovative financing mechanisms. One of these tools is the model of Caisses des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), which already exist or are under development in North, West and Central Africa.
Objectives and areas of operation of the Facility
The objective of the Facility to Support the Operationalisation of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations of Burkina Faso (CDC-BF) and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations of Côte d’Ivoire (CDC-CI) is to sustainably improve the mobilisation of African internal resources and the contribution of African capital markets to the development of the continent. To achieve this, it aims to make CDCs leading players in financing public policies and strategies for the development of their respective countries.
For this purpose, the project is based on four areas of operation:
1) Help structure the CDCs in Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire;
2) Assist these two CDCs with the development of their investment strategies and business plans;
3) Help build the capacities of CDC officers and with their training;
4) Contribute to conducting feasibility studies and the implementation of priority pilot investment projects.
With financing from Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Expertise France is acting as the operator responsible for managing and implementing the activities, working with the CDCs. The technical assistance activities will be entrusted to experts who will work for the CDCs throughout the project components.
For further reading: AFD is mobilising €3 million to strengthen the structure and development of the CDCs of Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire
Consequently, by supporting the effective operationalisation of these two key stakeholders in public development policies in a jointly built manner, Expertise France is both addressing the identified need and is aligned with the guidelines of the French Official Development Assistance policy.
The French Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations will be the guarantor of the technical assistance provided and will contribute to facilitating the dialogue with the two African CDCs, in particular through its peer-to-peer bilateral cooperation with them and the multilateral relations under the Caisses des Dépôts Forum.
