African Development Bank Group to mobilize $4 Million to assist Burundi’s agricultural sector

$4 million will be given by the African Development Bank Group to help Burundi buy more than 3,000 tons of fertilizer for the forthcoming growing season.

The Tanzania-Burundi-Democratic Republic of the Congo railway, which connects Tanzania and Burundi, will get a $100 million investment from the Bank as well.

Burundi’s Minister of Finance, Budget, and Economic Planning, Mr. Audace Niyonzima, made the proposal on behalf of President Évariste Nadyishimiye when he met with the president of the African Development Bank on April 7, 2023 in Abidjan.

According to the African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the Bank will deploy two ongoing projects from its current portfolio in Burundi to aid in meeting the first phase’s pressing needs. For the following phases, a different possibility will be researched.

The Bank will also help Burundi pursue opportunities to collaborate with other international organizations, such as the World Food Programme, to investigate alternatives for purchasing fertilizer.

Adesina encouraged the Burundian government to press for changes in the fertilizer sector. He recommended using an electronic wallet (e-wallet) to promote transparency in the transfer of fertilizer to beneficiaries.

Dr. Adesina and President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi discussed food sovereignty and resilience at the most recent Dakar 2 conference in January 2023, and those conversations were the focus of the meeting.

The Bank’s commitment to assisting the government in obtaining funding for Burundi’s Food and Agriculture Delivery Compact, which totals $200 million over five years and was approved during the Dakar 2 Summit, was reinforced by President Adesina. The compact’s finance is presently the subject of conversations with other important partners including the Netherlands, the World Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The Bank has raised more than $1.3 million to finance technical studies for the establishment of agro-processing zones and irrigated regions in Karusi and Cibitoke in order to achieve this goal.

At the meeting, the parties also talked on regional integration. According to Adesina, the Bank plans to invest around $100 million to develop the Uvinza-Musongati-Gitega section of the Tanzania-Burundi-Democratic Republic of Congo railway that connects Tanzania and Burundi. The concept will be presented to the board of directors in September 2023.