Makhtar Diop, a Senegalese national with more than 25 years of development experience, today becomes the new World Bank Vice-President for Africa.

 Diop was previously Country Director for Brazil since 2009 where he managed the World Bank’s largest country program. Prior to joining the Bank, Diop worked at the International Monetary Fund and served as Minister of Finance of Senegal, and as Chair of the West African Monetary Union (WAEMU) Board of Finance Ministers.

 After joining the World Bank in 2001, Makhtar Diop held various senior positions, including Country Director for Kenya, Eritrea and Somalia, as well as Director of Infrastructure and Director of Strategy and Operations in the Bank's Latin America and Caribbean region.

 “It is an honor to return to the Africa region as Vice-President at a time when the continent is on the rise, with strong growth led by private investment, and a new sense of optimism,” said Diop. “With world-class development knowledge and innovative financing, we can help support Africa’s momentum and ensure that all Africans, especially the poor, share in the continent’s economic and social transformation.”

 The World Bank is a partner of 48 countries in Sub Saharan Africa and finances approximately 500 projects in the region. The Banks' portfolio includes projects and programs in areas such as agriculture, trade and transport, energy, education, health, water and sanitation.

 In fiscal year 2011, the World Bank committed more than US$ 7.0 billion in new development financing for Africa, and disbursed over US$ 5.5 billion, in addition to producing more than 200 analytical studies.

 

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today discussed a new four-year (2012-2016) Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Gabon, focused on adopting the transfomational changes and reforms Gabon needs to lay the foundation for job-creating, long-term economic growth.

 

Renewing infrastructure and basic services; promoting agriculture and job creation especially for unemployed youth; tackling urban poverty; and increasing opportunities for girls and women are some of the other cross-cutting objectives of the CPS.

 

More than 75 percent of Gabon’s estimated 1.5 million inhabitants live in urban areas. The population is young, with 50 percent under 19 years of age.

 

“The support that has been discussed is in line with the World Bank’s Strategy for Africa, which pays special attention to the urgent need for job creation, good governance, and a high performing public sector. It also integrates and is inspired by the priorities laid out in the Gabon’s strategic development program,” said Zouera Youssoufou, the World Bank Country Manager for Gabon.

The US$250 million in World Bank funding for Gabon during the four-year period will notably support critical reforms in public financial management and key economic sectors.

 

It will more specifically seek to improve development outcomes in six areas: (i) improving governance; (ii) improving efficiencies and transparency in the management of the budget;(iii) improving the country’s management of its debt and its mining resources; (IV) improving the investment climate and supporting the growth of the private sector; (v) ensuring the adoption of a long-term plan for the transparent management of the country’s natural resources;(vi) and the production of an in-depth analysis (study) of the country’s social safety net and its health system.

 

Gabon is a resource-rich country and the fifth largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is well endowed with arable land, forest, and mineral resources, has extraordinary biodiversity, as well as rich deposits of magnesium and iron ore.

 

Forty years after the start of oil exploration, Gabon remains largely dependent on oil. On average over the last five years, the oil sector has accounted for 80 percent of exports, 45 percent of GDP, and 60 percent of the budget revenue.

 

A middle-income country, Gabon has been a member of the World Bank since 1963. Since then, the World Bank has funded some 20 projects in the country. In March 2011, the value of the World Bank’s portfolio was an estimated US$51 millions, invested in five ongoing or active projects.

As previously announced on March 23, the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank will conduct interviews with the three candidates in Washington, D.C. The schedule of interviews has been agreed with the candidates based on their availability:

 

• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Monday, April 9
• José Antonio Ocampo on Tuesday, April 10
• Jim Yong Kim on Wednesday, April 11

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved an International Development Association (IDA*) \interest free credit of US$30 million to kick-start a new Public Private Partnership (PPP) centered on infrastructure development in Ghana, the multilateral institution announced today.

 Bank support is the first phase in a series set to close a critical funding gap and to leverage urgently needed private sector investment from 2012-2016.

 The Republic of Ghana’s PPP program with the World Bank will combine the skills and resources of both the public and private sectors.  For its part, the Government will benefit from the expertise of the private sector by making it easier for authorities to focus instead on policy, planning and regulation.  Meanwhile, private firms will take care of day-to-day operations of various tasks, allowing both the private and public sectors to better coordinate while working more efficiently.

 Specifically, phase one of the Public Private Partnership project for the Republic of Ghana seeks to improve the legislative, institutional, financial, fiduciary and technical framework to generate a pipeline of bankable PPP projects.