by Nurat Uthman
The International Monetary Fund’s executive board on Friday approved a $1.3 billion, 30-month lending arrangement for Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa grower, under its Resilience and Sustainability Facility, the global lender said in a statement.
The board’s approval comes a month after IMF staff first reached an agreement on the loan with Ivorian authorities.
The IMF said the country’s authorities had made strong commitments to reducing the adverse effects of climate change, and the new funding would support an “ambitious homegrown package of reform measures.”
The reforms include a mix of adaptation and mitigation efforts, including strengthening governance of climate policies, reinforcing safeguards for the agricultural sector, creating a framework for green and sustainable financing and building resilience to climate hazards.
Ivory Coast is “highly exposed to climate change mainly through rising temperatures and sea levels, and rain pattern changes,” said IMF Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura.
“Economic vulnerabilities to climate change are exacerbated due to the country’s heavy reliance on agriculture and the concentration of industrial and services activity in coastal areas, while greenhouse gas emissions are rising,” Okamura added.
The IMF authority said implementation of reforms under the RSF arrangement should improve Ivory Coast’s resilience to climate change over the medium term, replace more expensive financing, and help the country build buffers against climate shocks.
Strong collaboration with development partners should ensure complementarity of efforts to support the reform agenda, with the RSF expected to help catalyze large financing needs identified in the authorities’ plans, Okamura said.
The IMF said reviews under the 30-month RSF arrangement would coincide with reviews of separate Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements approved in May 2023.
