OHADA: AFD suspends funding of 4 million Euros, pressure according to Ouagadougou and Bamako

The French Development Agency (AFD) suspended on July 27, 2023, a grant of 4 million euros for the benefit of OHADA, denouncing governance problems. But Ouagadougou and Bamako see it as pressure from the AFD to impose at the head of the organization personnel who are favorable to it.

On July 27, 2023, AFD suspended a 4 million Euro financing agreement signed on February 4, 2023 with the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Laws in Africa (OHADA).

According to our sources, the AFD denounces the difficulties of institutional governance of the Organization, in particular at the level of the Permanent Secretary and his relations with agents of the Permanent Secretariat and other partners.

According to the donor, this situation did not allow the start of activities intended to strengthen the capacity of influence and consolidate OHADA business law at the level of the Member States, within the contractual deadlines, hence the suspension of the financing agreement.

These explanations have not convinced Burkina Faso and the Republic of Mali who see them as shenanigans by the AFD to impose personnel who are favorable to it, in particular to the permanent secretariat currently headed by Professor Emmanuel Sidiki DARANKOUM.

In a joint press release dated September 9, 2023, the two Nations denounced “the fraudulent acts” which surrounded the recruitment of personnel during the 55th session of the OHADA Council of Ministers and Governments, from August 28 to 30. 2023 in Kinshasa.

It is said that the AFD correspondence, which dates from July 27, 2023, was distributed in the room, while the recruitment process was underway, in order to influence the vote of member states.

Ouagadougou and Bamako explained that their representatives had to leave the work prematurely, after actions taken to prevent their full participation.

They asked the conference of heads of state to urgently address the issue.

Furthermore, the two countries intend to draw all legal consequences if the force were to continue.

Source: Burkina Information Agency