Côte d'Ivoire - Economic and Social Reform Support Programme (PARES)

The proposed intervention concerns the grant of an AfDB loan of EURO 75 million to finance the Economic and Social Reform Support Programme (PARES) in the form of a programme support operation (PSO) over the period 2019-2021. The programme seeks to support the Côte d'Ivoire Government's efforts to improve the efficiency and transparency of public spending in favour disadvantaged persons by increasing access to basic social facilities and social inclusion actions. The relevance of the Bank's support through a stand-alone programmatic support operation is justified by the need to bridge the additional financing gap resulting from the government's willingness to address the incidence of poverty which remains high in the country despite the country's economic performance. The programme will consist of two components: (i) support for the efficiency and transparency in public expenditure; and (ii) support for social inclusion reforms. These two components are complementary in order to ensure the efficiency and transparency of public financial management and to implement the necessary social reforms needed for better sharing of the fruits of growth.