Jeddah, KSA, 25.05.2014 - The Vice President (Operations) of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Mr. Birama Boubacar Sidibe, signed a US$ 15 million financing agreement with Burkina Faso’s Minister of Economy and Finance and IDB Governor Mr. Lucien Marie Noel BEMBAMBA during a visit to Kigali, Rwanda, to participate in the Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank which took place during 19-23 May 2014.

The agreement contributes to support for the Bilingual Education Project in Burkina Faso. The project, which is equally financed from the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), IDB’s poverty reduction arm, and ordinary resources of the Bank, is expected to support the bilingual education project in the country as well as its 10-year Strategic Plan for the Development of Basic Education.

The financing from IDB will specifically contribute to: (a) improving access to primary bilingual education especially for girls' education, (b) enhancing the quality of primary bilingual education, and (c) strengthening the capacity of Burkina Faso’s Ministry of National Education and Literacy to manage the French-Arabic education system. Upon completion in 2018, the project is expected to deliver; (i) 183 bilingual primary classrooms built and fully operational with an additional capacity of
9,150 students (of which half are expected to be girls); (ii) new curricula for the French-Arabic Schools (FAS); and (iii) 2,665 teachers/staff (of whom at least half are expected to be female) benefiting from initial and in-service trainings in various key subjects. The proposed project sites are located in 7 regions out of 21 regions of the country.

As a member of the IDB since 1978, IDB has provided Burkina Faso with US$ 871.50 million approvals comprising 118 operations in project financing activities for US$ 638 million, 9 Special Assistance operations for US$ 9.00 million as well as US$ 221 million for trade financing from IDB’s trade financing arm, ITFC, and US$ 3.5 million from ICIEC, IDB’s investment insurance arm.