EBID shall endeavour to pursue the mission entrusted to it by ECOWAS Heads of State by contributing towards the economic and social development of West Africa through the financing of projects and programmes of ECOWAS and its member States. The expected volume of financing to be devoted to projects over the next five years is close to US$ 1.5 billion or roughly US$ 300 million yearly.

With regard to sectoral interventions, priority would be given to infrastructure in conformity with the Bank’s strategic positioning, in order to boost private sector productivity and contribute towards the ushering in of a climate favourable to sustainable economic growth in the region. Hence, more than half of the expected resources will be earmarked for this sector. The Bank’s intervention will also cover other sectors such as rural development, the environment, agriculture, and renewable energies.

Furthermore, the Bank will continue to support the private sector and intra-regional trade. Forty percent (40%) of the Bank’s interventions will be devoted to these activities.

The Institution will focus on production capacity, quality improvement, competitiveness and diversification of industries and services.  Hence, it will support the drawing up of programmes for the benefit of SMEs /SMIs and initiatives to improve the business climate and promote public-private partnership.

EBID will strengthen its cooperation with its partners in order to consolidate complementarity and synergy of action within the framework of its activities. It will also endeavour to exercise more control over its administrative and financial management and ensure a significant increase in the level of its interventions.

Despite the impact of the financial crisis on African economies which was marked by a decline in trade inflows, high inflation scarcity of foreign capital, EBID is committed to achieving the objective it set regarding the mobilization of financial resources and the financing of public and private sector projects in the sub-region. In this regard, the support of the ECOWAS Member States, donors and development partners will offer the Bank the impetus required for its operational activities. This is crucial for the success of the mission of promoting well being of people through economic development and poverty alleviation in West Africa.