Liberia’s Finance Minister Samuel D Tweah, says the European Union is a critical Partner in West Africa considering the vital roles it continues to play in the transformation of the Sub-Region’s Infrastructure space.
He called on West African Governments to redefine their partnership with EU to ensure sustained private sector-led growth.
Addressing the 9th. Annual ROAC-FED Meeting in 2019 in Monrovia, Minister Tweah named Roads and Electricity Infrastructures as “binding constraints to Africa’s transformation”
Minister Tweah, who is also the National Authorizing Officer(NAO) of Liberia, said, the resource requirements for addressing these constraints are huge indeed.
He disclosed that the European external investment program allocated around One Billion Euros to support Businesses and Infrastructure in Africa.
He called on other National Authorizing Officers to remain in the driving seat for their own development and focus on technical issues that can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of development programing and delivery under the European Development Fund (EDF).
Minister Tweah believes this will deepen EU/West African partnership.
The EU is one of the biggest donors in Liberia and its concrete interventions and Financial support under the EDF are carried out across various sectors including; Health, Infrastructure, Social policies and Governance.
Created in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome and launched in 1959, the EDF is EU’s main instrument for providing development Aids to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries…..and funds Cooperation activities in the fields of Economic development, Social and Human developments as well as regional integration.
In a related development, the Country’s Finance Minister told delegates at the 9th. Annual ROAC-FED regional meeting that Liberia was able to address some of the critical reasons that led to EU’s withdrawal from Road Financing.
He named the setting up of an operational Road Fund that generates about US$35 Million annually as one of those critical issues addressed.
Minister Tweah said that the Government’s “Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development” focuses on Roads development to enhance Economic transformation.
The ROAC-FED was established to enable National Authorizing Offices of the EU Development Fund to share and communicate technical and development experiences in order to enhance the effectiveness and impact of the EDF.
