Seychelles to get budget help from Comesa in 2013 |28 December 2012
Seychelles is expected to receive €618,152 payable in the first quarter of 2013.
The decision was taken last week in Lusaka (Zambia) during the 7th Comesa Fund Ministerial Meeting chaired by secretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Barry Faure.
The Comesa Fund is aimed at compensating Comesa member states for costs incurred while undertaking regional integration commitments.
The call for submissions was launched under the auspices of the Comesa Adjustment Facility and Regional Integration Support Mechanism (RISM). RISM is a programme supported by the European Union through the European Development Fund.
The Comesa Fund Ministerial meeting therefore met to consider and approve the submissions made by the eligible countries.
Seychelles was among one of the seven countries whose submission was approved.
The submissions for Burundi, Comoros, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda and Zambia were also approved.
Seychelles is eligible to a total nominal allocation of Euro 1,512,902 for the period 2012 – 2014, subject to a positive performance assessment of a set of 18 economic indicators.
A fourth call for submissions will be launched in July 2013.
As per the Comesa work plan, the second portion of approved funds are expected to be disbursed by the fourth quarter of 2013. Again, subject to good performance, the third and final tranche would be payable in 2014.
The meeting also deliberated over the operational definitions of the Comesa Infrastructure Fund (CIF). The CIF is designed to address Africa’s infrastructure investment needs, by focusing on the Comesa region and increasing the amount of equity available to invest in projects.
The CIF will be based in Mauritius and the PTA Bank has been tasked to oversee the operation of the Fund.
Kenneth Racombo, director general for Development and Regional Integration, and Myra Laporte, senior economist in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also took part in the ministerial meeting.