The year 2023 was marked by significant global challenges, including the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, persistent high inflation, and the continued tightening of monetary policies (rising interest rates).
As a result, global economic growth is projected to decline, with the growth rate expected to decrease to 3.1% in 2023, down from 3.5% in 2022, while inflation is expected to moderate slightly, reaching 6.8% in 2023 compared to 8.7% in 2022.
Within the WAEMU region, economies have shown resilience despite the deteriorating global economic environment and the fragile socio-political and security situation in some member countries.
The economic growth rate of the Union is expected to remain at 5.6% in 2023, slightly down from 5.7% in 2022, driven by sustained dynamism across all sectors and a deceleration in inflation, which is projected to average 3.7% in 2023 compared to 7.4% in 2022.
In the face of these challenging conditions, the West African Development Bank (BOAD) has continued to play its vital role as the primary financier within the Union. Indeed, the Bank approved a record funding of XOF978.7 billion for its member countries, with XOF858.9 billion allocated to medium and long-term loans (87.8%), XOF75 billion to short-term loans (7.7%), XOF23.4 billion to equity investments (2.4%), XOF15 billion to loan guarantees (1.5%), and XOF6.36 billion of cash advances for project preparation (0.6%).
The anticipated impact of these fundings includes the production of 160,300 m³ of drinking water per day, the irrigation of 11,745 hectares of agricultural land, the production of 91,750 tons of rice, and the creation of 364,376 jobs.
Annual disbursements reached XOF449.0 billion in 2023, up from XOF387.7 billion in 2022, representing a 15.8% increase. This brings the annual disbursement rate to 20.7%, up from 18.8% in 2022, and the cumulative disbursement rate to 67.2% .
The new loans BOAD granted in 2023 brings the cumulative financing of the Bank in the Union to XOF8,174 billion since the start of its operational activities in 1976.
