Liberia: New Signature Between the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and AFD

On November 22 2022, Minister of Finance and Development Planning Samuel D.Tweah, AFD Country Director Christophe Cottet, Proparco Country Representative Ange-Pascal Kouassi and Expertise France Regional Coordinator Alexandre Foulon signed the establishment agreement of the AFD group in presence of the French Ambassador to Liberia Michaël Roux. This new Establishment Agreement updates a former document signed in 1981, and allows AFD group to operate in Liberia as a duly recognized international institution in the country. The signing takes place five (5) years after AFD group resumed its operations in 2018. Since then, the AFD Group committed 58 million euros in Liberia.

The financing agreement of a 1.2 million euros French Government grant was also signed during the ceremony. This grant will finance the phase 2 of the scholarship programme that will allow 40 more Liberian youth to study in Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB) in Côte d'Ivoire. The phase 1 was part of the first project implemented by Agence Française de Développement in 2018.

This signing ceremony, which celebrates a new landmark of the partnership between the Republic of Liberia and France, was attended by high-level representatives of the Government (Minister Samuel D.Tweah, Deputy Minister Augustus F. Flomo, Deputy Minister Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, Tanneh Geraldine Brunson from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning) as well as French and AFD representatives (the Ambassador of France Michaël Roux, AFD Country Director Christophe Cottet).

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The signing of this Addendum to AFD 1981 Establishment agreement allowed to reflect AFD's current situation: its name change from Caisse Centrale de Coopération to Agence Française de Développement (AFD) as well as the recognition of its existence as a group comprised of two sister organizations -Proparco and Expertise France. This renewed legal recognition solidifies AFD's presence in Liberia following the resumption of its activities in Liberia. Since 2018, AFD has indeed, committed more than 43 million euros in grants to the Republic of Liberia, more than half of which has been supporting Liberian youth.

The signing of the establishment agreement coincided with the signing of the phase 2 of the scholarship project that will allow 2 cohorts of respectively 20 Liberian youth to study in Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB), in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire. They will join the 40 Liberian students of the 2019 and 2020 cohorts who are now fluent in French and remarkably successful in their technician-level studies in the various scientific specialties they have chosen. Implemented by the Office of the First Lady and the Ministry of education, the scholarship project was the first AFD-financed project alongside the LEEP project implemented by Mercy Corps in Liberia.

On the same day, the GoL, AFD and other donors celebrated the great achievements of the LEEP project at a high level close out event and AFD's continued commitment to Liberian youth through the granting in 2022 of the scholarship project and the REALISE project targeting vulnerable youth in rural areas in co-financing with the World Bank. These important milestones for the partnership between the Republic of Liberia and France mark a strengthened collaboration that should only expand in the years to come.

Contact : Solene COMA