BURKINA-FASO: SUSPENSION OF FRENCH DEVELOPMENT AID. THE MINISTER OF THE ECONOMY REASSURES

“There’s nothing to worry about” was the main message from Burkina Faso’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Dr Aboubakar Nacanabo, who appeared on the midday news on the national broadcaster RTB on Tuesday August 22.

 The Minister in charge of the Economy was very optimistic and reassuring to the population, who have been asking a lot of questions since France announced its development aid and budget support to Burkina Faso on August 06.

 Dr. Nacanabo admits that this financial cooperation from France had a certain weight in the budget of the Burkinabe state, but it’s time to think of an endogenous way of taking care of ourselves.  “French development aid could help us in a number of ways. But we feel that today, if France suspends its aid, we need to reorganize even more to mobilize more resources,” he explains. He also believes that the amount of this suspended aid should not be a major concern. “There’s nothing to worry about,” he said. Between January and July, the country managed to increase its resource mobilization to nearly 100 billion FCFA.

 “This means that internally we have made additional efforts compared with last year. We can organize ourselves better to cope with our development. Future aid could be a plus, but it won’t replace the efforts we’re going to make”, the Minister explained

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