AfDB Board approves $33.3m grant for Post-Ebola Social Investment Fund

The Board of Executive Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $33.3 million grant to set up a Post Ebola Recovery Social Investment Fund (PERSIF) for the countries hard hit by the disease – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Bank announced the grant approval Wednesday October 21, 2015.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the largest ever, recorded over 28,000 cases and over 11,000 deaths, in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone according to the World Health Organization.

The fund, the AfDB says combines contributions from the African Development Fund – the AfDB’s fund for emerging markets as well as countries in transition ($25 million grant); the US State Department ($5 million grant); and AfDB’s Rural Water and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) Trust Fund ($3.4 million).

The Bank indicates that funding from the US State Department will support economic and livelihood development for women, girls, and orphans and vulnerable children from Ebola communities in the three countries.

The Fund will be hosted by the Mano River Union Secretariat and will finance demand-driven, small-scale activities to contribute to the restoration of livelihoods and building the productive capacity of the poor, especially women. It is expected to benefit 5,000 Ebola survivors and 2,000 orphans and vulnerable children.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi