THE East African Community (EAC) and East Africa Development Bank (EADB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to strengthen partnership in financing of infrastructure development projects.

The DBSA Group Executive for Origination & Client Coverage, Mohan Vivekanandan signed the agreement with the EAC Director General (Customs and Trade), Kenneth Bagamuhunda and the EADB Head of Finance, Benard Mono at a brief event held on the second day of the Africa Investment Forum at Sandton Convention Centre.

Speaking at the signing event, Mr Vivekanandan said the agreement sought to support strong economic growth in the region by supporting key infrastructure development projects and capacity development.

“We know that East Africa has significant growth. It is the fastest growing region. What we do is to support this growth momentum by supporting key infrastructure development projects and build capacity of EAC and EADB,” said Mr Vivekanandan.

The MoU with EADB would lead to a new line of credit of about 100 million US dollars with a long tenure of payment, he said.

“There are a number of projects identified already. The agreement will enable us do due diligence to individual projects,’ he said.

The agreement would enable the bank at a later stage use financial leverage for pooling resources for financing key infrastructure projects, he said.

The EAC Director General for Customs and Trade, Mr Bagamuhunda said the signing ceremony was a milestone in strengthening relations between the East African Community and the Development Bank of Southern Africa in financing various projects.

He said the MoU covers a quite extensive area of cooperation between the two organisation and would help in capacity building for the EAC in financing of projects.

“The relation with DBSA is very critical interaction to enable us to work together in packaging and identifying financing for some of projects.”

He said EAC had priorities infrastructure development as a key to facilitate intra-regional trade and open up markets in the region.

The EAC had made significant progress in infrastructure development projects with 13 one-stop-border posts and a number of other infrastructure development projects.

“We have lined up infrastructure development projects. This is the most opportune moment to partner with the development finance institution. EAC is positioning itself within the African Continental Free Trade Area (Af- CFTA) rolling out its trade tentacles with the rest of Africa.”

He said despite efforts to develop infrastructure there were still gaps in terms of inadequate power, railways and road networks which hamper productivity and limit intraregional trade.

Such gaps however are opportunities as they create fertile grounds for investment, he said.

The EADB Head of Finance, Bernard Mono said the MoU signifies strong cooperation with the Development Bank of Southern Africa in working together in financing of infrastructure projects.

Source:Daily News

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