In July 2001, the Center for Development Support (Le Centre d’Appui au Développement, or CAD) was created as an independent non-governmental organization with seed funding from the African Development Foundation (ADF). CAD is led by highly qualified professionals who are citizens of Guinea and possess decades of on-the-ground experience in developing, supporting, and evaluating successful projects on behalf of ADF and other funders.

CAD’s mission is to help implement effective strategies for reducing poverty and promoting sustainable economic and social development across Guinea. The Center promotes participatory development methods, the creation of community-led development initiatives and transparent project management.

CAD focuses on three key areas:

·     Promoting and developing micro- and small-enterprise development and microfinance institutions;

·     Designing and implementing community-led development programs that integrate natural resource management and HIV/AIDS prevention strategies; and

·     Strengthening small businesses and community-based organizations through the provision of technical assistance and training.
 

Center for Development Support Director Mamadi Kourouma (front row, center) with the staff of CAD. 

While most of CAD’s activities concentrate on developing and monitoring ADF-funded micro- and small-enterprise (MSE) projects, CAD is rapidly expanding its client base. It provides field management for Guinea’s Village Support Program (PACV), which is administered by the Government of Guinea in partnership with the World Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the French Agency for Development (AFD), and ADF. Under this program, CAD has assisted 14 Rural Development Communities (CRDs) in using participatory methods to develop detailed community infrastructure development plans and annual investment plans.

CAD also works with Guinea’s National Committee for HIV/AIDS Control under an initiative funded by the World Bank to implement participatory approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in 11 rural communities and two urban communities.



Another day at the office:  CAD staff conduct an open meeting with local residents in the rural area of Kouratongo to answer questions about the participatory development process and explain the community's role in selecting and prioritizing their most important development needs.

Guinea’s National Directorate of Decentralization – a government agency that supports implementation of locally managed rural development projects - appointed CAD to provide technical assistance for new participatory development projects in the CRDs of Bintimodia and Missira that will be funded by the Bauxite Company of Guinea (CBG). And in February 2004, CAD reached agreement with the Blacksmith Institute – a New York-based foundation that supports sustainable local pollution control efforts in the developing world - on providing support for a nationwide campaign to phase out the sale of leaded gasoline.

The Center is led by Mamadi Khonès Kourouma, who was born and raised in the town of Kinièro in central Guinea. Kourouma holds a BS in agronomy from Julius Nyerere University in Kankan and an MS in animal science from the University of Minnesota. Over two decades, he has provided technical support and guidance to the Government of Guinea and a variety international development organizations and private companies working in Guinea. He also worked in Sierra Leone in the 1990s as political officer for the Mano River Union, a multilateral organization that coordinated economic policy among the west African nations of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.