Cameroon/The new RIAFCO board is installed in Yaoundé

The handover ceremony between the outgoing Bureau of the Network chaired by the Fonds Spécial d'Equipement et d'Intercommunale (Feicom), and the incoming Bureau chaired by the Fonds des Prêts au Collectivités Locales (Fpcl) of Côte d'Ivoire, was held on September 5, 2022, at the Riafco headquarters in Yaoundé.

The new Board of the Network of African Local Government Financing Institutions (Riafco) was elected for a 3-year term on the sidelines of the 9th "Africities Summit" organized by the United Cities and Governments of Africa during its 8th General Assembly held on May 18, 2022 in Kisumu, Kenya.s and Governments of Africa during its 8th General Assembly held on May 18, 2022 in Kisumu, Kenya in the presence of Georges Elanga Obam, Minister of Decentralization and Local Development.

The incoming Bureau is chaired by Dr .Fidel A. Yapi, Director General of Decentralization and Local Development of Côte d'Ivoire. The first Vice President is Adam Mossi Bingui, Director General of the National Agency for the Financing of Local Authorities (Anfict) of Niger, Servilien Nitunga, Director General of the Communal Investment Fund (Fonic) of Burundi is the second Vice President. The General Secretariat is held by Rado Harinjaka Razafindrakoto, Director General of the Local Development Fund (Fdl) of Madagascar. The Head of Finance is Mohamed Sikhe Camara, Deputy Director General of the Agence Nationale de Financement des Collectivités (Anafic) of Guinea. The Permanent Secretariat continues to be provided by Augustin Magloire Nkamleun Fosso of Cameroon.

As he leaves the presidency of Riafco, which has been associated with all the world campaigns during his term of office, participated in all the new world urban agendas being implemented, especially the Habitat III summit, which recognized Ifcls as essential partners in development, Mr. Philippe Ako is leaving the presidency.Mr. Philippe Akoa said he was " confident in the future of the institution, which will certainly grow thanks to the commitment and goodwill of the new president, who will be able to make Riafco shine in the context of local government financing in Africa.

As for the incoming president, he humbly acknowledged the dynamism of his predecessor : "It is not a farewell that I say tonight to the outgoing president. Feicom has its place at our side. Mr. Akoa will be responsible for all the partnerships that we will sign. President Akoa has not left, he is with us as a member of Riafco through Feicom. We will work together to strengthen what he has started. I have high hopes for everyone so that one day we can say that in Africa, we have a network of community financing," he concluded.

Riafco, which has the particularity of being an African desire to see all local government financing institutions networked, presents itself asa young network with strong ambitions to lead a high-level technical debate among members, to promote active solidarity among its peers and to advocate in favor of the Ifcl. It has technical and financial partners such as Kfw Bank, Afd, ADB, Bm, Swiss Cooperation, EU, AU, Giz, Ppiaf, Fmdv, Uncdf, Cvuc, Minrex, Minfi, Minddevel, Minduh. Its strategic partner is the Global Fund for Urban Development (GFID).

Riafco is a network of institutions set up by certain African states to support financial decentralization for the benefit of local, regional and metropolitan governments in Africa. Its headquarters are in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Riafco is a specific tool for promoting the financing of local government investments that was launched in November 2014. It is currently composed of 12 active members and observers and brings together local government financing institutionss of Benin (Conafil) Burkina Faso (Fpcdt), Burundi (Fonic), Cameroon (Feicom), Côte d'Ivoire (Fpcl), Gabon (Cdc), Madagascar (Fdl), Mali (Anict), Niger (Anflict) and Senegal (Adl, Adm).

RIAFCO also aims to be the technical body of the AU for all matters related to local government financing on the continent.

The activities of RIAFCO are a vast program involving the organization of workshops and exchanges, awareness raising and training, the piloting of study tours, the production of studies, and the development of new tools.study tours, the production of studies and data on Ifcls and financial decentralization, the provision of technical expertise to Ifcls, the management of thetechnical expertise for Ifcl, advocacy in favor of Ifcl at the local, national and international levels with Decentralization actors under the leadership of Permanent Secretary Augustin Magloire.Augustin Magloire Nkamleun Fosso and whose mission is to federate other African countries that have specialized instruments for financing local governments.

In Cameroon, the interest of the public authorities in Riafco, a very important player in the mobilization of financing earmarked for local authorities, is no longer in doubt. It has known the involvement at a very high level of the State by the signing on July 26, 2018 of the Establishment Agreement with RIAFCO.

Source: www.investiraucameroun.com/