AFD operates in the French Overseas Communities in its traditional capacity as a financial institution when financing requests are made by the relevant authorities. The guidelines for AFD’s general policy are defined in close cooperation with the French Secretariat for Overseas France, which is one of the State representatives on AFD’s Overseas France Committee and Board of Directors.

The following decisions were taken during the proceedings of the 8 April 2010 Board of Directors meeting:

Martinique: preventing seismic risks in social housing and intermediary housing construction

AFD approved 13 million euros of financing to SIMAR to finance its action plan against seismic risk (10 million euro loan) and an intermediary housing operation (3 million euro loan).

The social housing sector in Martinique counts 28 000 social housing units, i.e. 20% of the total housing stock in Martinique with 90 000 people housed. SIMAR is the island’s biggest operator in terms of housing construction programs and is implementing a program that aims to reduce seismic risk in the stock built before the current standards came into force. The company has consequently decided to earmark 20 million euros between 2010 and 2019 to consolidate roughly 2 000 housing units. Moreover, SIMAR aims to diversify its stock and offer rental units to middle-income households and will consequently be implementing a non-regulated operation comprising 27 housing units in the northern suburb of Fort de France (Tivoli Corenson operation).

French Polynesia: repairing public infrastructure

AFD approved a loan for a maximum amount of 21 million euros to the French Polynesia Local Authority to finance public infrastructure repairs following damage caused by Cyclone Oli. This financing will complete, where required, grants or other bank financing that are also earmarked to repair damage.

The archipelagos of French Polynesia gather a population of 260 000 inhabitants over an extremely scattered area of 3 521 km2. In February 2010, Cyclone Oli caused extensive damage to public and private goods estimated at 60 million euros. In addition, in February the area was affected by the passage of a strong tropical depression on the Tuamotu Islands and torrential rain in Tahiti and Moorea at the beginning of March. These three meteorological phenomena have been declared natural disasters by the Polynesian government.

AFD’s funding will contribute to financing repairs to damage caused to public infrastructure: coastal roads or roads bordering rivers, coastal and river bank protection, clearing of debris from rain-swollen rivers, maritime infrastructure.

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is a public development-finance institution that has been working to fight poverty and support economic growth in developing countries and France’s Overseas Communities for over 60 years. AFD executes the French government’s development aid policies. It is active in nine French Overseas Communities where it finances and supports projects that improve living conditions for populations, promote economic growth and protect the planet. These projects may be led by local public authorities, public companies, the private sector or associations.
In 2009, AFD committed nearly a billion euros to finance activities in France’s Overseas Communities (out of a total of 6.2 billion) in four areas of operation: support for public policies, SME financing, preserving the environment and regional cooperation. These funds have made investment facilities available to 20 000 businesses from which 14 000 jobs will benefit, will improve sanitation networks for 82 000 people and will finance the construction and rehabilitation of classrooms which will benefit 22 500 pupils.

http://outremer.afd.fr