Economy of Comoros - Infrastructure

Infrastructure

The country lacks the infrastructure necessary for development. Some villages are not linked to the main road system or at best are connected by tracks usable only by four-wheel-drive vehicles. The islands' ports are rudimentary, although a deepwater facility was recently completed on Anjouan. Only small vessels can approach the existing quays in Moroni on Grande Comore, despite recent improvements. Long-distance, ocean-going ships must lie offshore and be unloaded by smaller boats; during the cyclone season, this procedure is dangerous, and ships are reluctant to call at the island. Most freight is sent first to Mombasa or Réunion and transshipped from there.

The banking system consists of the Central Bank of the Comoros (Banque Centrale des Comores) established in 1981 that had three offices (Moroni (Grande-Comore), Mutsamudu (Anjouan) and Fomboni (Mohéli)); the Bank for Industry and Commerce (Banque pour l'Industrie et le Commerce—BIC), a commercial bank established in 1990 that had six branches in 1993 and was a subsidiary of the National Bank of Paris—International (Banque Nationale de Paris—Internationale); the Development Bank of Comoros (Banque de Développement des Comores), established in 1982, which provided support for small and midsize development projects, the Federal Bank of Commerce (Banque Fédérale de Commerce) and the Exim Bank Comores Ltd. Most of the shares in the Development Bank of Comoros were held by the Comoran government and the central bank; the rest were held by the European Investment Bank and the Central Bank for Economic Cooperation (Caisse Centrale de Coopération Économique—CCCE), a development agency of the French government. All of these banks had headquarters in Moroni.