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Press Release
OFID Governing Board approves new loans and grants at its 131st Session
PR20/2010 June 19, 2010, Caracas, Venezuela
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The Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), meeting in its 131st Session on June 18, approved nearly US$180 million in new financing. The funds will support 14 projects in various countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Energy and transportation projects represent almost 60% of the funds to be allocated, while other projects will support the water supply and sewerage, health and agriculture sectors. Commenting on the loans, Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, OFID Director-General, said that OFID has “long recognized” the importance of energy to human development and economic progress, and that the institution was prepared to take on the challenge of helping low-income countries overcome one of the “greatest hurdles they face to achieve the Millennium Development Goals – obtaining access to modern energy services.”
The 14 public sector loans comprise
| Country | Project | Amount (US$mil.) |
| Belize | Southside Poverty Alleviation, Phase II | 11.00 |
| Colombia | Transmilenio System Expansion | 30.00 |
| DR Congo | Revitalization of Health Zones | 6.00 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | North East Abidjan Drinking Water Supply | 7.00 |
| Cuba | Havana Electricity Rehabilitation (Phase III) | 12.00 |
| Djibouti | Geothermal Power Generation | 7.00 |
| Dominican Republic | Border Region Rural Development (Additional Loan) |
5.00 |
| Egypt | Giza North Power Plant | 30.00 |
| Ghana | Workshops Construction and Rehabilitation | 7.50 |
| Grenada | Agricultural Feeder Roads Rehabilitation (Phase II) |
8.50 |
| Nepal | Urban Infrastructure Improvement | 17.00 |
| Nicaragua | National Program for Sustainable and Renewable Energy | 4.00 |
| Niger | Bella II - Gaya Border with Benin Road Rehabilitation | 10.00 |
| Turkey | Samsun Light Rail Transport System (Supplementary Loan) (€20 million) | 24.76 |
| Total | 179.76 |
Five grants totaling US$7.65 million were also approved at the meeting. These included three grants for Latin America and the Caribbean. The first one for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is for the Reactivation of Emergency Schooling in Haiti, the second one will co-finance the final phase of an Onchocerciasis (river blindness) Elimination Program for the Americas and the third grant will support a project of the Foundation for the Sociial Promotion of Culture aimed at reducing rural poverty in La Reina, Nicaragua. Finally, a US$3 million grant will further an OFID/UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) Joint Project on Scaling up Assistance to Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa; and US$3 million to help finance the Deprived Families Economic Empowerment Program in Jerusalem, Palestine were also approved.
Since its inception, OFID has provided over US$11.9 billion in much-needed concessional development financing to 125 developing countries around the world, with priority given to the poorest amongst them.
