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GVs and SV: lorries and bulldozers at work in cement factory in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. (3 shots)
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2.
GV: African Development Bank headquarters in Abidjan.
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SVs INTERIOR: officials from Ivory Coast and Ghana seated with African Development Bank representative and signing agreement. (2 shots)
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4.
SV: official applauding.
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5.
GV: officials seated at table.
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Initials RH/WLW/JB/2230



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The African Development Bank has agreed to finance a major multi-national West African cement project. At the Bank's headquarters in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast on Tuesday (15 February) an agreement was signed to lend the equivalent of ten million U.S. dollars to the West African Cement organisation, CIMAO.

SYNOPSIS: CIMAO has cement projects either already working, like the cement factory in Abidjan itself, or under development in Ghana and Togo. The overall project, designed to fulfil the entire cement needs of CIMAO's member nations, involves the construction of another factory in Togo, and the establishment of a modern management system and staff training schemes. The full cost of the project is estimated at some 250 million dollars-one of the biggest single industrial undertakings ever attempted in West Africa.

The African Development Bank, which was set up in 1964 under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, has more than 60 member nations from black and Arab Africa. Its aim is to finance either individual member-nation projects, or group projects like CIMAO. Its aid covers widely - ranging projects, from agriculture and transport, to public service utilities, industry, and national banks themselves.

The twelve-year CIMAO loan is guaranteed by its members' government -- Ghana, Togo and the Ivory Coast.