BUJUMBURA July 11th (ABP) – The Cabinet Members meeting on July 5, under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, analyzed several items, among others, the national strategy for development cooperation, the draft policy of National Gambles (Games of Chance) and the strategic plan for its implementation, the draft joint ministerial ordinance amending the joint ministerial ordinance relating to the setting of the terms and conditions for the implementation of the project to modernize vehicle technical inspection services and the granting of transport permits.
With regard to the national development cooperation strategy, the Cabinet Members specified that its objective is to promote inclusive and sustainable growth of the population as a whole, through an effective development cooperation system. He also specified that this strategy should serve as a reference framework for development cooperation in Burundi, both for government action and for development partners. It aims to coordinate the contributions of development partners through a clear and transparent institutional and organizational mechanism.
The national development cooperation strategy is the product of two major events organized by the government in 2021. These include the national development forum held in November 2021 and the round table of development partners in December 2021.
The Cabinet Members cited the principles that will guide the implementation of that strategy. These are national leadership, anticipation, national ownership, transparency and mutual accountability, consideration of results-based management, open partnership, reduction of inequalities and spatial disparities.
That strategy will also be implemented through four strategic axes, namely the strengthening of national leadership in development cooperation, the capacity building of the institutions in charge of cooperation, the promotion of partnerships, and the improvement of the mobilization and resource management. After analyzing that item, the strategy was adopted with the observations and recommendations, in particular taking into account the level of administrative redistricting, the new approach to the budget-program model as well as the vision of Burundi as an emerging country in 2040, specifying the collaborative relationships between government structures and development partners as well as the Ministry of Finance which provides the secretariat at the level of the various committees.
With regard to the draft national gambling policy and strategic plan for its implementation, presented by the Minister in charge of trade, the Cabinet Members stressed that this policy aims to promote healthy development of the different types of games of chance, limiting and supervising the offer and consumption of those games as well as controlling and regulating the exploitation carried out by operators in the games of chance industry.
In addition, that policy is spread over a period of 2023-2035, during which certain concession contracts for the operation of games of chance will come to an end. The National Lottery of Burundi will cease commercial activities to be transformed into a Gambling Regulatory Authority. As for the Strategic Plan for the implementation of that policy, it can be summed up in a single axis aimed at “promoting the services of the gambling regulatory agency to contribute to the sustainable development of the country”.
At the end of the analysis, the policy was adopted with observations and recommendations such as prohibiting games of chance in poor neighborhoods, specifying the places where games of chance can be organized and indicating the conditions as well as the productive investment of gambling companies which is not perceptible.
Concerning the draft joint ministerial ordinance amending the joint ministerial ordinance relating to the fixing of the modalities for the implementation of the project for the modernization of vehicle technical inspection services and the granting of transport permits, the Cabinet reported that on April 16, 2015, the government of Burundi and the company Global Smart Technologies Burundi signed a public-private partnership agreement for the project of registration of motor vehicles registered in Burundi, and issuance of board, for a ten-year period. Four years after the signing of the agreement, an ordinance setting the terms of implementation of that project was signed. It sets the pricing of services and the distribution of income between partners. For each service provided, the share of Global Smart Technologies varies between 75% and 47%, OTRACO between 35% and 15% and OBR between 35% and 15%. This project is proposed following the report of the commission which was set up to value the contributions of the partners, and where it was found that the company Global Smart Technologies Burundi overvalued the equipment as well as the software. Indeed, the values resulting from the expertise show that the share of Global Smart Technologies Burundi is 21.3%, and that that of the State represents 78.7%, and the duration of the project is 3 years 1 month.
After the analysis, the bill was approved as well as the lifting of the freezing measure of the account in which the revenues from the technical control activist are deposited.