Integrity in Development Projects: The African Development Bank Debars Entreprise de Travaux et d’Etudes de Projets (ETEP) SA
The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org), today, announced a decision by its Sanctions Appeals Board imposing a 13-month debarment on Entreprise de Travaux et d’Etudes de Projets (ETEP) SA, a civil engineering company registered in Tunisia, for engaging in sanctionable practices.
An investigation conducted by the Bank’s Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption established that ETEP engaged in a variety of fraudulent practices while bidding for construction contracts under the Bank-financed Road Development and Transport Facilitation Project on the Bamako-Zantiebougou-San Pedro Corridor in Mali and the Coyah-Farmoreah-Sierra Leone Border Road Reconstruction Project in Guinea, respectively. The company was found to have falsified its financial statements, the experience of an employee and its qualification credentials in executing similar contracts.
The debarment renders ETEP and its affiliates ineligible to participate in Bank-financed projects during the debarment period. The debarment qualifies for cross-debarment by other multilateral development banks under the Agreement for Mutual Recognition of Debarment Decisions, including the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank Group. ETEP shall be released from debarment at the expiration of the debarment period only conditional on the company implementing an integrity compliance program.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).Media Contact: Amba Mpoke-Bigg, Communication and External Relations Department African Development Bank Email: a.mpoke-bigg@afdb.org
Technical Contact: Ms. Chimene Clarisse Comoe Email: c.comoe@afdb.org
About the Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption: The Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption of the African Development Bank Group is responsible for preventing, deterring and investigating allegations of corruption, fraud and other sanctionable practices in Bank Group-financed operations.
For more information visit https://bit.ly/2Z966o7
The investigation by the Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption of the African Development Bank was conducted by Johann Benohr.
African Development Bank staff and the general public can use secured hotlines to report sanctionable practices within the Bank or operations financed by the Bank Group.
Secured telephone: +1 (770) 776-5658
Secured email server: investigations@iacd-afdb.org
Mail correspondence should be marked “CONFIDENTIAL” and sent to: African Development Bank Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption Immeuble du Centre de commerce International d’Abidjan CCIA Avenue Jean-Paul II 01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01, Côte d'Ivoire
