German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development and World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa on a Joint Visit to Burkina Faso and Benin
German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze and World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa, Ousmane Diagana, visited Burkina Faso and Benin from March 4-7, 2024.
This joint visit of Germany and World Bank, who respectively hold the presidencies of the General Assembly and the Operational Steering Committee of the Sahel Alliance, is to support local communities. In particular, it illustrates collaboration in the priority areas of:
- investing in prospects for the youth through education and skills / vocational training;
- strengthening resilience and social cohesion by supporting local communities.
This visit reaffirms the World Bank and Germany’s continuous commitment to Western and Central African countries. It is also an opportunity to strengthen dialogue with the visited countries. It also demonstrates the importance of closely coordinated action by the various development partners within the Sahel Alliance.
In Burkina Faso (March 4 to 5), Mrs. Schulze and Mr. Diagana met the Minister of Economy, Finance and Forecasting, Dr. Aboubakar Nacanabo, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabè Abroad, Mr. Jean-Marie Karamoko Traore, as well as development partners, to discuss development priorities in a context of multidimensional crises. The delegation will also visit a World Bank-funded science high school and an Agroecological Training Centre, which is a partner of German cooperation in the country.
In Benin (March 5-7), Mrs Schulze and Mr Diagana were received by the country’s highest authorities to discuss development priorities and strategies for preventing fragility.
In particular, the delegation met beneficiaries of projects to support communes, promote social cohesion and strengthen the resilience of populations around nature reserves and classified forests supported by German Cooperation and the World Bank in the north of the country, visited the Glo Djigbe industrial zone and attended a round table on youth employability and entrepreneurship.
