The African Development Bank Group and the government of Equatorial Guinea have approved an action plan to improve the performance of Bank Group’s portfolio in the country. This followed a joint review to assess the effectiveness of ongoing interventions and chart a course for future investments.
The review workshop, held from 27-31 October, in Malabo, the country’s capital, was attended by ministerial representatives, technical partners and project management teams. Participants agreed to set up a coordinated project monitoring system, establish rigorous mechanisms for monitoring contractual commitments, and ensure compliance with financial obligations.
The review covered various projects, including the Public Finance Modernization Support Programme (PAMFP), the Support for the Development of Value Chains in the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector (PASPA) and the Feasibility study project for Support for the Strengthening of the Digital Ecosystem (PARED).
The joint portfolio analysis highlighted several obstacles to project effectiveness: slow start-up, delays in setting up management units, and delays in the issuance of no-objection notices by the Bank Group. Added to this are the teams’ limited technical capacities and lack of knowledge of the Bank’s procedures for procurement, disbursement and financial management.
“The Bank is developing close management relations with project management units and stepping up capacity building through targeted training in fiduciary management and monitoring and evaluation,” said Mouhamed Gueye, Divisional Manager for Social Development and Human Capital for Central and North Africa, representing Léandre Bassolé, Director General of the Bank Group for Central Africa. “We are also maintaining close dialogue with partners to mobilize more co-financing under the 2026 lending programme and beyond.”
Ladislao Ndong Ndong Bisó, Director General of Economic and Financial Organizations, who represented Ivan Bacale Ebe Molina, the country’s Minister of Finance, Planning, Economic Development and the Budget, said: “This exercise had several objectives: to ensure that our actions are aligned with Agenda 2035, to review our project portfolio in detail, to identify shortcomings in their implementation, and to assess their level of progress. The results will help define the direction and financing terms for future projects.”
Several complementary activities accompanied the workshop, including a fiduciary clinic for project managers, to strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the new accounting framework and the Bank’s financial management rules and procedures.
Finally, a field visit to the PASPA project allowed the Bank’s delegation to see the progress in the construction of aquaculture infrastructure, scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2026.
The Republic of Equatorial Guinea has been a member of the African Development Bank Group since 1975. The institution’s first financing dates back to December 1978, for a cocoa tree regeneration project worth nearly $9 million. To date, Equatorial Guinea has benefited from 53 operations financed by the Bank Group, with a cumulative commitment of $337.30 million.
The Bank Group’s active portfolio in Equatorial Guinea comprises six projects with a cumulative value of approximately $167 million. These investments are strategically distributed across several key sectors: social sector (42.2 percent), agriculture (38.6 percent), governance (18.5 percent) and communications, ICT and energy (0.7 percent).