Nearly 20 billion CFA francs have been released by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support vulnerable populations in Côte d'Ivoire. The Board of Directors of the Pan-African Bank approved the disbursement on Friday, November 19, 2021.

The new loan covers the implementation of the second phase of the Economic and Social Reform Support Program (Pares II). According to the AfDB, this second phase of the program aims to consolidate and deepen the achievements of phase I by increasing public resources in favor of vulnerable social strata and strengthening the efficiency and transparency of public expenditure in order to support their access to basic social infrastructure and their social inclusion. For its implementation, Pares II took into account the epidemic context linked to Covid-19 by continuing its support for the private sector, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises and the informal sector hard hit by the health crisis, notes the Bad. Also, the program supports efforts to intensify vaccination against Covid-19.