UNITED NATIONS (AP) The World Bank and the European Union on Monday pledged $8.25 billion to boost economic growth and fight poverty in Africa's Sahel region.
The announcement came on the eve of an historic trip to the Sahel by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.
The EU is donating $6.75 billion over seven years. The World Bank is contributing $1.5 billion over two years.
The joint visit began Monday in conflict-torn Mali and continues to Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad. On Tuesday, Ban and Kim will attend a regional ministerial meeting in Mali's capital, Bamako. Other leaders making the trip are: Andris Piebalgs, the European Union Commissioner for Development; African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma; and African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka.
"The leaders of the Sahel are coming together to tackle their challenges in a concerted way," Ban said Friday. "We are convinced that the cycle of crises in the Sahel can be broken. The region can move from fragility to sustainability."