Bamako, Mali, April 15 (Infosplusgabon) – The World Bank has provided Mali with US$25.8 million, half of which is in the form of grants and the other half in the form of repayable credit, for the emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic, official sources said.
Malian Prime Minister Boubou Cissé and World Bank Mali Director of Operations Soukeyna Kane signed the funding agreement in Bamako on Tuesday.
The objective is to strengthen the capacity of the Malian government to prevent, prepare for and respond effectively to the Covid-19 pandemic throughout the country.
This includes addressing the multiple consequences of the disease on all sectors of economic, social and cultural life, in accordance with the national policy to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Soukeyna Kane said that the Covid-19 pandemic emergency response project was part of a US$14 billion rapid assistance from the World Bank Group to help health systems around the world meet the immediate challenges of this pandemic.
She recalled that “the Covid-19 pandemic emergency response project aims to address the health crisis, notably through improved access to health care services and the promotion of an integrated response to the pandemic, through enhanced means of screening, detection and treatment of patients, as well as improving laboratory capacity and health monitoring capabilities.”
The project will be based on the Three Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Strengthening Programme and the Universal Medical Coverage Acceleration Project and will strengthen surveillance, detection and case management in Bamako, regions and health districts.
It will also make 100 modular clinics available to increase bed capacity and increase the provision of personal protective equipment.
In addition, the project includes training health workers, increasing the number of staff and providing bonuses to improve working conditions.
Soukeyna Kane announced that given the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, this emergency support is just the beginning of a broader effort that the World Bank Group plans to provide to the countries it funds, including Mali.
The Malian Prime Minister called the World Bank’s funding a “solidarity and humanitarian gesture” and praised the World Bank Group authorities through the Director of Operations for Mali for the promptness with which the institution is now intervening to support the Malian government in its efforts to prevent and combat this pandemic.
Boubou Cissé emphasised that at this stage, while it is difficult to predict the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, Mali is already beginning to feel its effects.
“The forecasts made by official services project the growth rate of the Malian economy at 0.9pc, against an initial projection of 5.00pc for the year 2020,” said the Malian Prime Minister, adding that in total, the shortfall in terms of revenue from the general budget is estimated at 222.1 billion CFA francs in the first half of 2020.
Taking into account the potential savings in spending, he said that there would be a need for financing to be covered by 182.2 billion CFA francs as of June 30, 2020.
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FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/AZR/2020
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