Press Release

OFID and the Islamic Development Bank sign financing agreement for Doraleh Container Terminal in Djibouti

04/2009 January 20, 2009 Kuwait City, Kuwait
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On the sidelines of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Kuwait, the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and the Islamic Development Bank signed on 19 th January, 2009, a Mudharaba agreement covering the Doraleh Container Terminal in the Republic of Djibouti.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, Director-General of OFID, and Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani , President of the Islamic Development Bank Group.

Dr. Al-Madani spoke of his pleasure at OFID cooperating with the IsDB in private sector financing and expressed the hope that, in the future, such cooperation could be further enhanced. He also noted the relevance of the project to the resolutions of the Arab Economic and Social Summit in support of the promotion of the Private sector and the establishment of private-public partnerships for the development of infrastructure.

In his own comment, Mr. Al-Herbish noted that the new facility will greatly improve the operating efficiency of the port and relieve capacity constraints. It will also generate many new employment opportunities. He further described the Doraleh Container Terminal as “ a vital import facility to neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia.”

The present project involves the construction of a new container terminal in two phases with a total capacity of three million TEUs per annum at Doraleh, near Djibouti city. The Doraleh Container Terminal project is the first private sector project OFID is undertaking in the Republic of Djibouti. OFID has several ongoing public sector operations in the country, which has also benefited from OFID direct and regional grants.

Arabic version