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Press Release
OFID releases US$145 million in fresh financing for development
PR 30/2008 October 9, Vienna, Austria
Press inquiries:
New financing totaling US$145.06 million has been approved at the 124th Session of the Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), which held yesterday in Vienna, Austria. The funds will support 12 projects in needy countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. The latest batch of loans, commented Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, OFID Director-General, would target a number of “key priority areas”, such as improving important transportation links, helping boost food security and providing families with a reliable source of electrical power. These needs were what the beneficiary countries themselves deemed most crucial, stated the Director-General, as OFID always “responds to governments’ choices, rather than imposing its own.”
The 12 public sector loans comprise:
| Country | Project | Amount (US$mil.) |
| Botswana | Kasane Airport | 10.00 |
| Burkina Faso | Koudougou-Dedougou Road | 8.00 |
| Cote D’Ivoire | Singrobo-Yamoussoukro Road (additional loan) | 8.00 |
| Djibouti | Boulaos Power Plant Rehabilitation Phase III (€8.5 million) | 12.50 |
| Ghana | Cancer Diseases Hospitals | 7.50 |
| India | Orissa Integrated Irrigated Agriculture and Water Management | 30.00 |
| Jamaica | Bogue Road Improvement | 20.00 |
| Mozambique | Save Valley Irrigation Development | 7.96 |
| Niger | Kandadji Dam | 15.00 |
| Panama | Participation Development and Rural Modernization | 1.80 |
| Sudan | Western Sudan Resources Management Program | 8.60 |
| Turkey | Samsun Light Rail Transport System II | 15.70 |
| Total | 145.06 |
Also approved were three grants totaling US$2.9 million. One will support construction of a health center in Jordan; another will support a capacity-boosting initiative for an Arab NGO, while another will provide assistance to 20 civil society organizations in Palestine (see separate press release 31/2008).
Since its inception, OFID has provided close to US$9.9 billion in much-needed concessional development financing to 121 developing countries.