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Burundi: Government Agreed a $53million Deal to boost Food Security

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Colorful fruits and vegetables colorfully arranged at a local fruit and vegetable market in Nairobi, Kenya.

The government of Burundi and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) inked a $53 million deal on Tuesday, April 27. (International Fund for Agricultural Development). The money will go towards the PROVIDER initiative (Rural Entrepreneurship Development Program)

In his speech, Minister of Finance Domitien Ndihokubwayo stated that the contract signed between the government of Burundi and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) consists of a donation of 42,950,000 dollars and a concessional loan of 10,700,000 dollars, which will support IFAD projects such as PIPARV-B from 2022 to 2024.

The funding will be used to support a project that will help rural communities reduce poverty, enhance nutrition, and increase food security.

“The development goal pursued is to encourage equitable and inclusive young entrepreneurship, as well as an environment favorable to the development of agro-pastoral enterprises and the building of the resilience of the most vulnerable rural people,” the Minister of Finance stated.

Minister Dr. Déo Guide Rurema and IFAD’s Director General for East and South Africa, Mrs. Sara Mbago Bhunu, signed the agreement. Mrs. Sara Mbago Bhunu told the press that her journey to Burundi will provide her the opportunity to visit the country’s heartland and observe what the IFAD beneficiaries have accomplished.

“And, because Burundi, like other nations, has been hit by the Covid 19 accident, it’s a good opportunity to see, as we launch a new initiative, where it’s needed and what’s anticipated to be done for all people who have been affected,” she added.

Mr. Raymond TEGUZA, Representative of the Swiss Association for Quality & Management Systems (SQS in the acronym) presented three ISO standards certificates to Bancobu, a Burundi commercial bank, on Tuesday evening at Van Beach in Bujumbura.

The ISO 9001:2015 standard for its Quality Management System is one of the three ISO standards. Its Environmental Management System is certified to ISO 14001:2015. Its Occupational Health and Safety Management System meets the ISO 45001-2018 standard.

The Swiss Association for Quality & Management Systems (SQS), the first Swiss certifier and the world’s number two in terms of ISO certification, awarded this certification after an in-depth audit.

Mrs. Trinitas, the Bancobu CEO, thanked the independent international reference body SQS for the certificates and stated that the Bank’s efforts to meet its commitments vis-à-vis interested parties, in this case, customers, shareholders, staff, and the surrounding communities, led to the achievement of these certificates.

Burundi will attend the “Tanganyika Business Summit 2022” in Kigoma from May 9 to 11, 2022, according to a press statement issued by the Burundi Development Agency on April 27, 2022.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan will attend the conference, according to the announcement. The summit will bring together 500 entrepreneurs from Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Tanzania.

“The summit is an opportunity to learn from our counterparts in the sub-expertise region and to strengthen networking through B2B meetings scheduled on the sidelines of the abovementioned conference,” according to a statement from the Asian Development Bank.

Eighteen members of the East African Legislative Assembly’s Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution are in Ethiopia for a five-day benchmarking visit to the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa (AUC).

The visit’s general goal is to connect with AUC stakeholders involved in peace and security, as well as familiarize themselves with the African Union’s peace, security, and political programs, from April 25th to April 29th, 2022.

In addition, the Committee plans to learn about the progress made, the challenges faced, and the lessons gained in terms of best practices, such as alternative finance modalities for continental peace projects. The visit is expected to strengthen EALA’s legislative and oversight mandate over the EAC’s funding and implementation of continental peace and security protocols and programs, thereby effectively contributing to the prevention, management, and resolution of conflicts in the EAC region and across the continent.

The Committee is expected to attend interactive sessions with the AUC Peace and Security Council (PSC) Secretariat and hear presentations from important directors and heads of departments, particularly those involved in defense, peace, security, and political affairs, during their visit to the AUC.

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