The convention at work

EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT FUND

Following, where required, favourable opinions from the EDF Committee, the Commission has decided to provide grants and special loans from the 5th, 6th and 7th EDFs to finance the following operations (grants unless otherwise stated):

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Cape Verde: ECU 1.29 million to render viable a zone designated for industrial use in Praia. Madagascar: ECU 16.4 million to rehabilitate 12 provincial airports. Madagascar: ECU 1.9 million, in the form of equipment and technical assistance, to support the revival of agriculture and fishing in the extreme south of the island. Fiji: ECU 10.24 million for the building of two bridges together with related road and structural works at Ba and Sigatoka. Papua New Guinea: ECU 20 million for improvements to the Ramu highway linking Pompaquato to the Gogol River. Solomon Islands: ECU 6 million for road building and the construction of quays in Malaita Province. All ACPs: ECU 30 million for multi-annual microproject programmes with an economic or social impact.

TRADE PROMOTION/ STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT

Central African Republic: ECU 10 million from the structural adjustment facility to support a general import programme.

ENTERPRISE

Member States of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU): ECU 512 000 for the West African Development Bank to support the promotion and financing of the private sector in the countries in question.

EDUCATION

Niger: ECU 3.15 million for a professional and technical training programme for entrepreneurs and trained workers in the formal and informal sectors. Zimbabwe and SADC Member States: ECU 9.1 million towards a training and education programme aimed at reinforcing the personnel of the University of Zimbabwe's Veterinary Science Faculty and of the public and private veterinary services in the region. SADC: ECU 8 million towards a regional training project for the management of fauna in the southern African Development Community. All ACPs: ECU 9.65 million for a programme to support training in statistics (COMSTAT).

ENVIRONMENT

Papua New Guinea: ECU 1.6 million for training of mining teams in environmental protection.

MISCELLANEOUS

Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda: ECU 1.95 million to support a five-year programme aimed at improving cereal cultivation and for research in agropathology. Countries of East Africa: ECU 1.95 million towards the second phase of a research and training programme designed to improve livestock. Solomon Islands: ECU 1.5 million towards phase 11 of an artisanal fisheries project. All ACPs and OCTs: ECU 40 million (global engagement) for financing of technical cooperation, trade promotion and tourism.

EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK

Loans

Cote d'Ivoire: ECU 4.2 million to finance the drilling of a confirmation oil well dose to the Belier oil field some 15 km off Grand-Bassam. The drilling will be undertaken by Petroci (the Cote d'Ivoire national oil company). Lesotho: ECU 20 million, consisting of a direct loan of ECU 5m to the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) and a risk capital loan of ECU 15m to the government of Lesotho, towards the reconstruction of the Muela hydroelectric power station. This forms an integral part of a 30-year project and should allow for the export of water to South Africa as well as providing Lesotho itself with an independent source of renewable energy.

MISCELLANEOUS

Support for structural adjustment in Ethiopia stepped up

During the recent meeting in Paris of the World Bank's consultative group on Ethiopia's reform programme, donors declared themselves ready to provide $1.1 billion in 1994-1995 in support of the programme. They also recognised that supplementary aid might be needed to tackle the food shortages in the country. At the meeting, the representative of the European Commission reported that Ethiopia has a financial allocation of ECU 265m for the first five-year period of LomV and that the EU has contributed ECU 75m to the structural adjustment programme. He added that the promptness with which support was given was in line with the wish expressed by the World Bank in its document. The Commission, he said, was currently examining the possibility of providing Ethiopia with aid for rapid disbursement from Stabex resources.