/ 26 January 2001

FRANCE PLEDGES $43.5M IN AID FOR AFRICA

THE French overseas development agency and a private subsidiary have pledged some $43.5m in aid to the southern African region. The French Development Agency (AFD) said it had approved a loan of 20m euros ($18.5m) for projects at South Africa’s higher education institutions and technical colleges. The loan will also be used for an AIDS prevention programme. PROPARCO agreed to give South Africa’s Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) a credit line of $20m for financing private-sector infrastructure projects in several African countries. – AFP