€500 million (about $585 million) for Benin's classrooms, clinics and taps

Benin has secured €500 million (about $585 million, or 328 billion CFA francs) in international bank financing for a twelve-year push into education, health, water access, infrastructure, renewable energy, and agriculture — with jobs for young people and women an explicit target. The deal, completed September 18, is backed by a partial credit guarantee from the African Development Fund plus second-loss insurance from the Islamic Development Bank Group's insurer. A decade of financing for the things a country is actually made of.