Abidjan, The Minister of Budget and State Portfolio, Moussa Sanogo, explained the advantages of the Abidjan metro and the Singrobo-Ahouaty hydroelectric dam to the deputies who are members of the Economic Affairs Committee and Finance (CAEF), Monday, January 24, 2022, during a parliamentary session in Abidjan.

The member of the government exposed the opportunities of the two infrastructures during the presentation of the bill on ”legislation of the tax and customs regime of the concession agreement for the design, financing, construction, operation and transfer of ownership of the Singrobo-Ahouaty hydraulic development, with an installed capacity of 44 MW on the Bandama River” and the project on ”legalization of the tax and customs regime of the concession agreement for line 1 of the metro Abidjan”.

With regard to the Singrobo-Ahouaty dam, Mr. Sanogo recalled that in order to accelerate the implementation of the project at a cost of 121 billion FCFA, the company IHE contracted on December 29, 2017 , a loan of 150 million euros from Africa finance corporation.

According to the Minister, this direct agreement negotiated and signed on July 14, 2021 between the State, the company IHE and the donors provides for the replacement of the long-term bridging loan.

In addition, pursuant to law 2014-132 of March 24, 2014 on the electricity code in its article 52, the State granted the benefit of the tax and customs regime to the project concessionaire company.

With regard to the construction and operation of line 1 of the Abidjan metro to connect the municipalities of Anyama and Port-Bouët, over a line of 37.5 kilometers, the Minister specified that it is appeared necessary during the discussions with the financial and technical partners, to arrange a particular tax and customs regime, applicable during the concession agreement.

This appendix provides for a period of five years corresponding to the duration of the works, exemptions covering direct and indirect taxes amounting to 53.8 billion FCFA.

With regard to Value Added Tax (VAT) as well as import duties and taxes, it has been decided that they will be covered by the mechanism of special treasury checks which constitute payment vouchers issued by the treasury. public for the benefit of companies for the payment of VAT and customs duties due to the State.

“The amount of special Treasury checks to be issued is 172.5 billion FCFA. The tax and customs benefits provided for by the tax annex to the agreement have reduced the overall cost of the project by around 226.3 billion CFA francs,” he revealed.

After the Minister’s detailed explanations and responses to the concerns of parliamentarians, the two bills were adapted in committee.

Source: Agence Ivoirienne de Presse