September 5, 2020. The Board of Directors of the West African Development Bank (BOAD) met for its 118th ordinary session, under the chairmanship of Mr. Serge EKUE, Chairman of the Board of Directors, President of BOAD. Like the previous session, the meeting took place by videoconference due to restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic

After approving the minutes of its 117th meeting held on 24 June 2020, the Board considered and gave a favourable opinion to the Bank's new Strategic Plan for the five-year period 2021-2025. Broken down into five (5) strategic axes, this Plan aims to enable the Bank to increase its impact in terms of development results, in order to better contribute to the integration and transformation of West African economies. The plan will be submitted to the UMOA Council of Ministers for approval

The meeting reviewed and approved the interim financial statements of BOAD as at 30 June 2020, the General Guidelines for updating the 2020-2024 financial perspective and preparing the 2021-2023 programme budget. The Board approved 10 new medium- and long-term loans in the amount of 84.9 billion FCFA, bringing the total commitments (all operations combined) of BOAD since the start of its operational activities in 1976 to 6,177.7 billion FCFA

The loans approved relate to the partial financing of the following projects:

— Promotion of inclusive finance for the access of low-income populations to financial services in Burkina Faso: the purpose of the project is to establish financial resources in order to support the financial inclusion efforts of the Burkinabe State for the benefit of low-income populations, micro and very small enterprises through the financial institutions of the decentralized financial system (SFD). Amount of the operation: 5,000 MFCFA

— Second phase of the project to develop the Ouédo site in Benin: the objective of the project is to contribute to improving the living environment and reducing poverty. Amount of the operation: 10,000 MFCFA

— Construction of 1,528 classrooms in Senegal as part of the Provisional Zero Shelter Program (PROZAP): the objectives of the project are to put approximately 28,560 disadvantaged children in good learning conditions and to reduce the dropout rate in the schools concerned by 50%. Amount of the transaction: 8,894 MFCFA

— Development and asphalting of the Oréfondé-Matam road in Dandé Mayo Nord, as part of the Programme for the Reduction of Agricultural and Mining Production Zones (PDZAM) in Senegal: the objective of the project is to contribute to the preservation and development of the road network in order to support economic growth in Senegal. Amount of the operation: 15,000 MFCFA

— Establishment and operation of a cement plant by CIMCO SA in Togo: the aim is to contribute to covering cement consumption needs in Togo and the sub-region through the geographical advantage of the Port of Lomé, and to contribute to the country's economic growth by improving the competitiveness of the industrial sector and the performance of the infrastructure sector. Amount of the operation: 20,000 MFCFA

-The refinancing line for Coris Bank International Côte d'Ivoire (CBI CI): the line, intended to refinance productive investment projects in sectors eligible for financing from the Bank, is part of the third program initiated by KFW and BOAD aimed at supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in UEMOA by improving their access to financing through the commercial banking sector. Amount of the operation: 10,000 MFCFA

-Refinancing line for Crédit du Sénégal (CDS): the line is part of the UEMOA program to relaunch the activities of businesses following the health crisis linked to Covid-19. Amount of the operation: 8,000 MFCFA

— Refinancing line for the National Bank for Economic Development (BNDE) in Senegal: the line is part of the UEMOA program to relaunch the activities of UEMOA businesses following Covid-19. Amount of the operation: 8,000 MFCFA

The Council also approved the following lines of credit mobilized from partners:

— Credit line from the OPEC fund to BOAD: this loan will allow the Bank to finance its pipeline of projects in the short-term operations sector (refinancing lines and agricultural campaigns in particular). Amount of the operation: 50 million euros, or 32.798

— Establishment of a grant from Société Générale and JP Morgan in favour of BOAD, guaranteed by MIGA: the resources mobilized will be used to finance the public and private sectors. As far as the public component is concerned, an amount of 200 million euros, or 131.19 billion FCFA, will be allocated to this sector, 50% of which (65.6 billion FCFA) will be devoted to refinancing the preferential loans granted by the Bank to the States, while the balance will be allocated to finance new projects.

For the private sector, 150 million euros, or 98.39 billion FCFA, will be intended for: (i) SMEs via refinancing lines granted to commercial banks and (ii) short and medium term operations. Amount of the operation: 350 million euros, or 229.58 billion

In addition, the Board of Directors approved the update of the procurement procedures and the rules for the award of contracts financed under Bank projects, the status of collection of loan claims as at 31 August 2020, and the presentation note for the proposed BOAD risk appetite statement.

Finally, the Board took note of the following files, included for information: Report of the 34th meeting of the Audit Committee; Performance evaluation of the portfolio of public projects financed by BOAD in Benin from 2000 to 2015: summary report; Status of the use of resources mobilized by BOAD as at 31 July 2020.

In concluding the work, President Serge EKUE, on behalf of the Board of Directors, thanked all stakeholders for their mobilization and the technical resources made available to hold this session under the best conditions.