Press Release

OFID provides US$65 million to boost development efforts

11/2008 April 21, 2008 Vienna, Austria
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Seven developing countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America are to benefit from fresh OFID (the OPEC Fund for International Development) financing, totalling US$65.5 million. Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, OFID Director-General, said that the bulk of the newly-signed loans were directed to the transportation sector. The action, he went on, would promote trade opportunities, ease rural isolation and facilitate access to vital social services. “OFID realizes that enhancing transportation infrastructure is instrumental to eradicating poverty, as new health clinics, schools and marketplaces are of little use if the rural poor are unable to reach them,” the Director-General concluded.

Other objectives of the projects include constructing schools as well as building and rehabilitating rural infrastructure. Support to the private sector is also included in this round of financing to boost the development of micro-enterprises in Azerbaijan.

The breakdown of the loans is as follows:

Implementation of the projects is expected to begin shortly and will bring numerous benefits to communities in the participating countries.

To date, OFID has provided more than US$9 billion in much needed development financing to 121 developing countries worldwide. The funding includes project and program loans, balance of payments support and HIPC debt relief, as well as financing under OFID’s recently-established Trade Finance Facility. Others are private sector financing, grant assistance and contributions to other international institutions, such as the Common Fund for Commodities and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. These resources have helped raise living standards among thousands of needy communities around the world.

For detailed information on individual projects, please visit the country profiles pages of the OFID website.