Monday July 31, 2023 in Brazzaville, Jean-Baptiste Ondaye, Minister of Economy and Finance, opened the work of the validation meeting of documents relating to the Financing Mechanism for Emergency Projects of the National Development Plan (PND) 2022-2026. In the presence of the General Directors of commercial banks and other credit establishments established in Congo.

The documents to be validated are: the Mechanism Presentation Note and the Draft Memorandum of Understanding to be signed between the State and the participating commercial banks. Minister Jean-Baptiste Ondaye indicated that the validation of the documents must precede the signing of the Draft Memorandum of Understanding, scheduled for Saturday August 5, 2023 at the latest.

He then drew the attention of the participants in this meeting to three major risks that should be corrected in the conduct of public projects with the implementation of this new Mechanism. The first risk is linked to the non-completion of projects. The second consists of paying for a service not provided. The third concerns the accumulation of payment arrears due to the strong dependence on the financial health of the State.

Expected results of the Mechanism

It is expected from this innovative Mechanism, among other main results, the reduction of uncertainty and the reduction of the State's cash flow tensions, thanks to better forecasting of disbursements which will be made in installments; the significant improvement in the rate of execution of the works thanks to the condition imposed on the companies awarded the contracts, to disburse based on the completion of the different phases of the works; significant reduction in credit diversions and uncaused payments; the significant reduction in the accumulation of new payment arrears; improving relations between Banks, Businesses and the State; the increase in state tax and customs revenue; and improving the country’s economic growth.

The PND 2022-2026

The National Development Plan, adopted by the government, includes 343 projects valued at 8,962 billion 59 million CFA francs. To finance this PND, the government relies on its own resources and on external resources (donations and bequests; loans and public-private partnerships).

The PND includes six pillars, namely: the development of Agriculture in the broad sense; Of the industry ; Special Economic Zones (SEZ); tourism ; of the digital economy and real estate development.

As part of the implementation of this PND, a portfolio of so-called priority or emergency projects was decided by the government, taking into account the country's capacity to mobilize both internal and external resources.

These projects were targeted taking into account their significant impact and ripple effect.

The Communication Unit of the Ministry of Economy and Finance