‘Kuwait Fund’ extends KD 9 million in loans to Cameroon, Burkina Faso
The projects in two African countries will help create new job opportunities, support the government’s food security strategy, reduce poverty, and accelerate economic growth.
• The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) signed a loan agreement with Cameroon to support the country’s rice production chain development. The project will boost economic and social development in three regions by reclaiming 5,000 hectares for rice production.
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) has signed a loan agreement with Cameroon for three million dinars to support the country’s rice production chain development, Al Rai newspaper reported.
The fund stated in a statement to KUNA that the project will support economic and social development in three regions—the Far North, Northwest, and West—by reclaiming approximately five thousand hectares of agricultural land to enhance rice production and support beneficiaries.
Self-sufficiency in rice production
It added that the project will also help establish marketing and distribution centers to partially achieve self-sufficiency in rice production, create new job opportunities, particularly for women and youth, reduce poverty rates, improve beneficiaries’ incomes, and support the government’s food security strategy while accelerating economic growth.
The agreement was signed by the Acting Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Waleed Al-Bahar, and the Minister of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development of the Republic of Cameroon, Amin Osman May.
The fund also signed a loan agreement with the Republic of Burkina Faso worth six million dinars to help finance the irrigated agriculture development project in the Sonouand Kouri regions.
Livestock and fish farming
In a press release, the fund stated that the project aims to support economic and social development in the SonouValley by developing irrigated agriculture across a total area of two thousand hectares in the Sonou and Kouriregions. This initiative seeks to diversify and intensify agricultural production, enhance product marketing, and promote livestock and fish farming.
Protection of forests
It added that the project also aims to protect forests surrounding the targeted lands and support beneficiaries. This will create new job opportunities, particularly for women and youth, reduce poverty, improve farmers’ incomes, support the government’s food security strategy, and accelerate economic growth.
The agreement was signed by the Acting Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Waleed Al-Bahar, and the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Burkina Faso, Aboubacar Nacanabo.
