Public helps steer World Bank’s development focus in Niger

As the World Bank finalizes its next country partnership strategy with Niger, which sectors should it prioritize in the next three years?

The bank launched a series of consultations with representatives from the government, media, the private sector and civil society to glean public sentiment on the African country’s development needs. Four sectors emerged as top priorities: education, communication, agriculture and security.

World Bank Country Manager for Niger Nestor Coffi led the discussions, which were held in Dosso, Tillabéri, Tahoua and Maradi regions. Coffi shared lessons from the previous strategy, which ended in 2011, and urged participants to consider the following questions when thinking about what the bank’s development focus should be through 2015.

• What are the specific development priorities in your region?

• In what areas should the World Bank increase its presence?

• What are the main challenges to the development efforts in your region?

The results of these consultations, along with the results of a countrywide survey, will inform the bank’s new partnership strategy with Niger, which will be presented to the board of directors on April 2013.

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