The African Development Bank (AfBD) is to manage the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region’s (ICGLR) special fund for reconstruction and development.

This follows the signing of a trust instrument between AfBD and ICLGR yesterday at the AfBD Country offices in Kigali.

AfBD Country representative, Jacob Diko Mukete and Ambassador Liberata Mulamula signed the administrative agreement for the two parties respectively.

This comes at the awake of the ICGLR meeting to plan the implementation of projects within its thematic cluster on economic development and regional integration.

Amb. Mulamula said that this gives AfBD the responsibility to manage the financial resources raised from GLR members and other developmental partners for reconstruction and developmental projects.

She revealed that today, the special fund has a total of $1.6 million kept on a Suspense Account in Interbank Burundi in Bujumbura but will be transferred to the AfBD account following the signing of ceremony.

Mulamula requested AfBD to provide account details to effect the transfer of the available funds.

AfBD also agreed to cut the management fee of the fund from 8 per cent to 2.5 percent, ‘which is a modest amount for a bank and financial institution,’ according to Mulamula.

Mukete, in his speech, expressed that the commitment by ICGLR to entrust AfBD manage the regional grouping fund is testimony to the strong and growing cooperation between the two parties [AfBD and ICGLR].

He assured ICGLR secretariat members present at the signing ceremony that ‘AfBD would bring its vast experience and expertise to bear the management of the fund’.

Mukete added that this fund is a novel experience in Africa since it is the first time several African countries, whose development has been blighted, have decided to set up a common reconstruction and development fund to address some of their concerns.

He also said that the fund currently has limited resources but will grow in volume over time and that it could be used to leverage additional resources or to supplement funds provided by development partners.

This agreement will see the AfBD support ICGLR with credit, institutional support and studies in the region currently estimated at $752 million.

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