BUJUMBURA November 12th (ABP) – The Ministry of Finance, Budget and Development Cooperation organized jointly with the African Development Bank (ADB), in Bujumbura on Friday November 9, 2018, an activity related to the review of the performance of the ADB portfolio in Burundi.
On that occasion, Minister Domitien Ndihokubwayo said that the meeting was timely and aimed to analyze the combined completion report of the Country Strategy Paper 2012-2018, the review of the performance of the 2018 Portfolio of projects funded by the ADB in Burundi and the preparation of the Country Strategy Paper 2019-2023.
For the same minister, the review will allow all the stakeholders of the different projects to learn from the project implementation experience in order to improve the conduct of the ongoing operations under way and the quality of the projects under the preparation phase.According to Minister Ndihokubwayo, as of June 30, 2018, the active portfolio of the ADB in Burundi is 276.87 million units of account (UA) and the latter had 17 projects including 9 national projects with an amount of UA 136.86 million and eight regional projects with UA 140.01 million.
In addition, there will be the ownership strengthening by the Government of projects financed by the ADB, the fact of ensuring a better alignment of the portfolio with the National Development Plan 2018-2027 and other sectoral and national strategies of development with a view to increasing the impact on beneficiaries by contributing to the economic and social objectives of the Government.
The same review will also analyze the project-by-project disbursement situation and identify projects likely to improve the overall disbursement rate of the entire portfolio. It will ultimately develop a realistic action plan and discuss it with all actors involved in the project delivery chain and determine the people responsible at each stage, said Ndihokubwayo.
He called on all parties involved to redouble their efforts to meet all current challenges and constraints in order to find concrete solutions to improve the performance of projects and achieve results leading to the improvement of the living conditions of citizens.
The Minister of Transport, Public Works, Equipment and Spatial Planning, Mr. Jean-Bosco Ntunzwenimana, indicated on his part that as far as his ministry is concerned, the ADB is financing 60% of the portfolio allocated in Burundi and this is affected in the transport sector.
To that end, he pointed out that there are roads that have already been completed under the financing of the ADB namely the National Road 5(RN 5), Phase I Ruhwa-Nyamitanga with related works such as the modern market of Rugombo. There is also the RN 13 Makebuko-Ruyigi, RN 15 Gitega-Ngozi, with works being done for the asphalting on the urban roads of Ngozi and Gitega, the Mugina-Mabanda-Nyanza-Lac RN 3, and others, said Minister Ntunzwenimana. He also stressed that the works of Rumonge-Bujumbura RN 3 will begin soon and other related works, he added.
As for the ADB Country Representative in Burundi, Mr. Daniel Ndoye, he emphasized that the ADB has been on the side of the Burundian Government. Since 1972, the year of the first ADB operation in Burundi, its commitments in Burundi amounted to approximately USD 1824 million.
The ADB’s current portfolio in Burundi comprises 13 projects with a total commitment of USD 416 million, or 755 billion BIF with a predominance of transport, energy and agriculture infrastructure, he said. .
According to Ndoye, the quality of the portfolio has improved overall with a disbursement rate of 60% for a 5-year average age.
However, he indicated that difficulties persist in certain projects facing a significant slowness in disbursements, notably the RN 18 Nyakararo-Mwaro-Gitega road project, phase II and two construction projects of power plants at the Jiji-Murembwe and Ruzizi II.
Note that among the various projects financed by the ADB, there is the implementation of the Jiji-Murembwe hydroelectric project, the Ruzizi III hydroelectric project, the Rusumo-Burundi hydroelectric project, the RN 18 project Nyakararo-Mwaro-Gitega, phase II, Kibumbu-Gitega section, and others.
