Luxembourg, 17/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Kenyan Government and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an agreement on 16 December paving the way for the opening of an EIB Regional Representation for East and & Central Africa in mid-2005, to be based in Nairobi, Kenya. This is one of three regional representations in sub-Saharan Africa to bring the EIB closer to its customers and reinforce its operations in the field. The other Regional Representaions will be in Dakar, Senegal, for Western Africa, and Pretoria, South Africa, for the Southern Africa region and Indian Ocean.
Managed from Luxembourg, the EIB has been operating in Africa under successive EU conventions for some 40 years,. In recent years this task has grown in importance, with the focus of support going to the private sector and to the improvement of utilities - energy, water, communications - through the reform of state agencies into commercially managed or privatised enterprises. Over the past five years, the EIB has funded investment totalling EUR 650 million in the region, some EUR 250 million of which for local banks to support SMEs, small-scale private initiatives and micro-credit, focussing on Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.