EU funding to underpin stability

EU funding to underpin stability

Funding for Sierra Leone under the six-year 10th European Development Fund (EDF) (2008-2013) will build on projects to underpin stability and good governance and help get the economy moving.

There are €242M in the 10th EDF’s ‘A’ envelope focusing on good governance (€37M), rehabilitation of priority infrastructure (€95M) and general budget support (€90M). Outside the focal sectors, funds are earmarked for agriculture (€12M – see article on agriculture); trade, which includes funding to underpin an eventual European Partnership Agreement (€3M); a technical and cooperation facility (€2.5M); and contribution to regional projects (€2M).

An additional €26.4M – initially for two years but renewable – is contained within a ‘B’ envelope. This covers unforeseen needs such as emergency assistance, a contribution to internationally agreed debt relief and adverse effects of instability in export earnings.

EDF monies to Sierra Leone have increased since 1975 when the 4th EDF was on stream. War interrupted planning, so €100M from previous funds is still being spent. Between 1999 and 2002 the EC’s humanitarian aid office, ECHO, pledged €44M for war victims, returnees and Liberian refugees.

Sierra Leone is one of only a handful of ACP countries where the EU is jointly planning its aid strategy with an EU Member State, the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). “There is huge complementarity between DFID, which concentrates on health and sanitation, and the EU with its focus on transport and infrastructure,” Richard Hogg, head of DFID’s office in Sierra Leone, told us.

Both donors also provide budget support. Under the 10th EDF, €15M has been pledged per year, amounting to 29 per cent of the total budget support by donors, or 5 per cent of total government revenue. Benchmarks for disbursal of these monies are drawn up with the AFDB, World Bank, DFID and include good public financial management.

Of the €95M going to infrastructure under the 10th EDF, €48M is for feeder roads, €15M for overlaying the Songo-Moyamba junction road and €7M for construction of the Magbele bridge. Currently being upgraded with EDF funds are a 86 km stretch from Rogbere junction in Sierra Leone to Guinea and the 168 km from Masiaka to Bo. Continuation of this road to Liberia is seen as a funding priority since it would create a trade-enhancing artery from Liberia to Guinea.

Also included in the budget chapter for infrastructure are funds for the vital energy sector (€12M), a ‘master plan’ for Freetown (€8M) – including development of urban roads and markets – and the development of river transport (€2M) including the building of jetties at points on the 380 km of inland waterways. There is a support for the Ministry of Transport (€3M).

Out of €37M earmarked for good governance, explained Francesca Varlese, Project Manager at the EU Delegation in Freetown, €8M will go toward continued election support, including €3.7M for the holding of the July local elections and to election bodies – the National Electoral Commission and Political Parties Registration Commission. Chiara Bellini of the Delegation’s governance section adds that reform of the civil service (€10M), and decentralisation of services (€9M) are also priorities. Additionally, there is continued funding for the National Authorising Office which coordinates EU projects for the government (€5M), sums for environmental governance (€4M) and the building up of civil society (€1M).
 

Debra Percival