African Development Bank pledges millions to Tunisia

Jun 10, 2011, 18:12 GMT

Lisbon - The African Development Bank (ADB) on Friday pledged 500 million dollars in international aid to Tunisia and said it was planning to give another 500 million dollars by the end of the year.

The ADB was 'the first institution to put money on the table' instead of 'promises' to support the democratic transition in the North African country, ADB President Donald Kaberuka said at its annual assembly in Lisbon.

Tunisia is due to hold elections in October. Autocratic president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted by anti-government protests in January.

The ouster of Ben Ali set the stage for the removal the next month of former Egyptian president Hosny Mubarak and prompted ongoing anti-government protests in Yemen, Libya and Syria.

Representatives at the meeting said that, in the wake of the Arab Spring, one goal of the bank should be to promote job creation in North Africa for the young people who have risen up against their governments, partially to complain about the lack of good jobs.

'The creation of jobs for young people must be the priority of the countries of North Africa,' said Kaberuka.

He said economic integration would be key, noting that the economies of both Tunisia and Egypt are growing, but neither is creating new jobs.

The ADB and Tunisian representatives signed an international aid agreement worth 500 million dollars.

The additional five hundred million would be given to fund projects in areas such as infrastructure, water or the financial sector, Kaberuka said.

The ADB president called on the international community to help Tunisia, which he said had lost 40 per cent of its tourism industry and 60 per cent of direct foreign investment because of the political upheaval there and because of the war in neighbouring Libya.

The meeting in Lisbon brought together 77 countries and international institutions on Thursday and Friday.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde - the favourite candidate in the race to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund - was also at the meeting on Friday.

The ADB was founded in 1963 to foster economic and social development in Africa. Non-African countries have been accepted as members since 1979.