…Nigeria Not Among Beneficiaries
The OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) has approved close to US$1 billion in new development financing over the last quarter of 2024, including during its 190th Governing Board meeting in Vienna on Tuesday for some countries.
These projects will benefit countries across the globe and aim to bolster infrastructure, food security, renewable energy, economic resilience and governance in partner countries.
In his remarks at the board meeting, OPEC Fund President, Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, said: “2024 has been a landmark year for the OPEC Fund, marked by a significant increase in project approvals and commitments across key sectors, helping to build resilience, develop sustainable infrastructure and address climate change.
Our latest round of financing reflects the OPEC Fund’s ongoing dedication to delivering impactful solutions that drive meaningful change for millions of people. We remain focused on working with partners worldwide to tackle today’s challenges and build a better tomorrow”, he added.
The OPEC Fund most recently approved Public sector projects since September 2024 for some countries, including Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, El Salvador, The Gambia, Malawi, Kenya, Mauritania and others worth over $300 million.
Similarly, among the countries that benefitted from its financing support for private sector operations are Côte d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Egypt Ghana, Paraguay, and Uzbekistan with a total value of over $170 million.
For instance, while €50 million participation in a trade finance facility to support the procurement and export of traceable cocoa, benefiting one million producers and five million people reliant on the cocoa sector was approved for Côte d’Ivoire, a US$10 million loan was to a local bank in Dominican Republic to support on-lending to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and women-led businesses, fostering economic growth and financial inclusion
In Egypt, the OPEC Fund provided a US$40 million loan to support the construction of two wind farms with a total capacity of 1.1 GW in the Gulf of Suez, to provide clean energy to over 1.3 million households and contribute to Egypt’s goal of sourcing over 40 percent of electricity from renewables by 2035.
On Technical Assistance Grant, the Fund also approved US$1.5 million technical assistance grant
for Asia and the Pacific regions to support the implementation of the Nature Solutions Finance Hub in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The initiative aims to scale up investments in nature-based solutions to address biodiversity loss and climate change, targeting US$5 billion in financing flows by 2030.
