Vienna, Austria, December 12, 2018. OFID – the OPEC Fund for International Development – has approved more than US$328 million of new funding to benefit developing countries across the globe. The 165th Session of OFID’s Governing Board approved the funding at the organization’s Vienna
The public sector loans, which total US$216 million, will support the following projects.
Other approvals included four grants totaling more than US$2.25 million that aim to: provide children with disabilities from conflict-affected communities in Palestine with access to a high quality, needs-focused education; enhance food security in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen by providing technical assistance and capacity building; support a project in the Gambia aimed at improving women’s livelihoods by strengthening their participation in trade; and promote access to modern energy in rural areas in Zambia by installing mini-grids based on renewable energy sources.
Under OFID’s private sector facility, US$73 million was approved: to help strengthen the energy sector in Senegal (€25m; circa US$28 million); and to support a financial institution in Botswana (US$20 million) by expanding its lending activities to micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. Funds will also support a lending institution that extends loans to private small- and medium-sized agribusinesses in Latin America and the Caribbean (US$25 million). Under OFID’s trade finance operations, US$37 million was approved to support international trade activities in Burkina Faso (€15 million; circa US$17 million) and Paraguay (US$20 million).
