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VIENNA, Jan. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The OPEC Fund for International Development, a multilateral development finance institution based in Vienna, Austria, expanded its new commitments to $1.7 billion across 55 global projects. global in 2023, providing financing to address climate change and the energy transition, support social and economic resilience and drive sustainable growth. The organization was founded 48 years ago and the 2023 results represent a record for new commitments.
OPEC Fund Director General Dr Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said: “In 2023, the OPEC Fund increased its impact by delivering development support in a challenging global environment. We increased our lending program across the board in response to the strong demand from our partner countries, and thanks to our success in raising additional funds from the capital markets. We were also able to leverage our partnerships to mobilize development support by working with multilateral development banks and development financial institutions such as the Coordination Group Arab. And we are on track with our 2030 goal of committing 40 percent of all new finance to climate action.”
In 2023, the OPEC Fund achieved strong results in Africa (42 percent of investments), the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Central Asia (20 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (20 percent), as well as Asia and the Pacific (18 percent) through public and private sector loans, trade finance and grants.
The majority of last year’s lending program was dedicated to policy-based lending (31 percent). In cooperation with financial partners, the OPEC Fund supported government sustainable development programs in Botswana ($100 million), Ivory Coast ($74 million), Armenia ($54 million), North Macedonia ($54 million ), Colombia (150 million dollars) and Paraguay (100 million dollars) to strengthen economic, social and climate resilience.
The transportation and storage sector received the most support from the OPEC Fund (14 percent), and the OPEC Fund helped build roads and sustainable transportation infrastructure to improve connectivity in India ($100 million), Kyrgyz Republic ( 15 million dollars), Tajikistan (10 million dollars), Uzbekistan (47 million dollars) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (28 million dollars).
In line with the OPEC Fund’s Climate Action Plan, support for renewable energy projects constituted almost 60 percent of all loans in the energy sector. The OPEC Fund supported the development of a solar plant in Niger ($25 million), a 240 MW wind farm in Azerbaijan ($50 million) and two wind power plants in Uzbekistan totaling 1 GW of renewable energy capacity ($40 million). OPEC Fund investments in the energy sector also included projects to promote energy security in Tanzania ($30 million) and Bangladesh ($60 million), aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Clean and Affordable Energy .
In the financial sector, the OPEC Fund contributed $171 million, partnering with local governments and banks to offer loans to small and medium-sized businesses, promoting job creation and access to financing in Albania, Botswana, Paraguay and Vietnam. $273 million of trade finance was offered to partner banks to support the movement of critical raw materials and goods in developing economies.
In line with its Food Security Action Plan, the OPEC Fund provided $59 million to promote agricultural and fisheries sustainability in Benin, Liberia and Zimbabwe. The institution also dedicated $104 million to education, $61 million to water and sanitation, and $50 million to health projects mainly in Africa and Asia.
The successful achievement of development in 2023 was also boosted by the debut of the OPEC Fund on the capital market, which the institution tapped for the first time in its history in January. The issuance of the OPEC Fund’s benchmark SDG bond raised $1 billion for sustainable development projects. The excellent position of the OPEC Fund in the market was confirmed in December when the international rating agency Standard
In 2023, the OPEC Fund continued to expand its partnerships with peer institutions, including the Asian Development Bank (ABD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Arab Coordination Group (ACG), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Islamic Industrial Development Bank (IsDB), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the World Food Program (WFP), among others.
About the OPEC Fund
The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) is the only development institution with a global mandate that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively. The organization works in cooperation with partners in developing countries and the international development community to stimulate economic growth and social progress in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The OPEC Fund was created in 1976 with a different purpose: to promote development, strengthen communities and empower people. Our work is people-centred and focuses on financing projects that meet essential needs, such as food, energy, infrastructure, employment (particularly in relation to MSMEs), clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education. To date, the OPEC Fund has committed around $27 billion to development projects in more than 125 countries, with a total estimated cost of more than $200 billion. The OPEC Fund is rated AA/Stable Outlook by Fitch and AA, Stable Outlook by S.
CONTACT: Read PamirT 43151564174B.Pamir@opecfund.org
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