Central African Republic Investment Climate 2 Project

completed

This CAR-IC II Project was designed to support the restructuring of the CAR cotton sector by facilitating increased investment in the cotton sector supported by sectoral policies reform and empowered cotton farmers. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture, the CAR IC II project specifically (i) Facilitate increased private sector investment in the cotton sector, (ii) Support the streamlining of sectoral policies, (iii) Empower farmers and MSMES in the cotton sector, and (iv) Promote private-public dialogue. The three main project components include: Component 1: Improving private investment in the cotton sector In order to promote private sector investment in the cotton sector, Component 1 of the project would focus on (i) building the capacities of financial institutions (FIs) on structuring of agribusiness products, (ii) identifying at least one off-taker and linking it to at least one FI that would provide credit to the off-taker, which would intend procure and deliver inputs to farmers on credit with associated extension service to ensure that the inputs are used effectively, and (iii) supporting the government to review the agricultural and financial sectors legislation and their implementation frameworks to ensure that they facilitate private sector investment in the cotton sector. Component 2: Promoting MSMEs and cooperatives creation and development The focus of Component 2 of the project would be (i) assisting the Government of CAR in setting up the cooperatives status in line with the OHADA Uniform on the cooperatives and introduction of other regulations that will support production and lending services, (ii) carrying out regulatory review to check the national regulation compliance with the OHADA Uniform acts and suggest the correctives measures, (iii) conducting procedures mapping for business registration, including the one stop shop, Guichet Unique de formalite des Entreprises (GUFE) organization and functioning, to identify the bottlenecks and support the implementation of the appropriate solutions, (iv) carrying out the assessment of what is needed in terms of capacity building to operationalize the RCCM software and make sure that both the GUFE and the commercial court have access to the same database as well as support staff training in organizational culture and change management, and (v) supporting the launch and operationalization of the RCMM in Bangui. Component 3: Facilitating Public-Private Dialogue Public-private dialogue is particularly valuable in post-conflict and crisis environments to consolidate peace and rebuild the economy through private sector development therefore, the project would support the improvement of the Public Private Dialogue (PPD) as an indispensable participatory tool for accelerating the identification and implementation of reforms.