Central African Republic - Bangui M’poko International Airport Modernisation Support Project – Phase II (PAMAB II)

The proposed operation is a Transition Support Fund (TSF) grant of UA 8 million to the Central African Republic to finance the Bangui M’Poko Airport Modernisation Support Project – Phase II (PAMAB-II). Successive audits by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), Agency for the Supervision of Air Safety in Central Africa (ASSA-AC), the French Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) and Airports Council International (ACI) have shown that the Bangui M'Poko airport infrastructure no longer meets the operational needs of a modern international airport especially in terms of space availability, passenger handling, luggage delivery time, facilitation, operator facilities and aircraft parking aprons. The Bank's operation under the PAMAB programme is intended to contribute to developing and modernising aeronautical infrastructure in CAR by upgrading air transport facilities and services at the Bangui/M’Poko international airport. It will be recalled that due to lack of resources in 2019, the project was divided into two phases: (i) Phase 1 consisted in the partial development of the terminal with a UA 1.21 million TSF financing approved in November 2019; and (ii) Phase 2 to complement the first phase and the subject of this operation, structured around airport security, facilitation and signage activities. It will also involve developing an air transport policy paper for CAR. Phase 2 is estimated to cost UA 9.90 million. Implementing PAMAB over the 2020-2023 period will substantially improve the performance of CAR’s air transport sub-sector and the country's profile in civil aviation. Phase II of this project is structured around four (4) components: (i) airport safety and operations; (ii) airport facilitation, signage and security; (iii) support to the air transport sector; and (iv) project management and coordination. Its implementation will help to adjust the airport's capacity to the traffic level and user expectations. Specifically, in the freight zone, it will eventually lead to the inception of air export business that is expected to increase with the development of high-potential and job-generating agricultural sectors.