OFID signs loan agreements with 6 partner countries

The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has signed new loan agreements with six partner countries in Africa and Asia. The agreements were signed on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF Annual meetings in Tokyo, Japan, by OFID Director-General Suleiman Al-Herbish and various ministers of the beneficiary countries. Commenting on the newly-signed loans, Al-Herbish said "This latest round of financing will go a long way towards alleviating poverty and raising living standards for millions of people." He explained that the projects ranged from the provision of safe drinking water and the construction and expansion of healthcare facilities, to rural electricity access and the rehabilitation of an important transport corridor. The signed loan agreements comprise of expanding Congo Republic Blanche Gomes Hospital-Phase II, a childcare hospital located in the capital Brazzaville, through the construction and equipping of a new 100-bed facility, thus doubling in-patient capacity. The constructing of Ghana Trauma and Acute Health Care Center and equipping a new medical emergency center at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital complex in the capital Accra that will serve some 18 million people. The building of dams and pumping stations of Lesotho Metolong Water Supply to deliver reliable water supplies to some 300,000 people in the capital Maseru and three outlying towns. The agreements also include the building of seven water supply schemes in six chiefdoms at Swaziland Lower Usuthu Water Supply to provide around 30,000 people with a safe source of drinking water. Boosting economic growth at Togo Adagali - Atakpame Road Rehabilitation through the rehabilitation of an 80 km-long road that passes through important agricultural areas in the Plateaux Region, populated by around 1.3 million inhabitants.  Yemen Al Mocha 60 MW Wind Park is also part of the agreements which it will see the installing of all equipment and materials needed to supply wind-powered energy to around 75,000 people in under-served rural communities. In addition, a grant agreement was signed with the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) for an OFID/CAF joint initiative entitled Energy for the Poor Projects and Policies Preparation Facility in the Latin American Region, which aims at providing modern energy services to 15 developing countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay). The agreement was signed by Al-Herbish and CAF's Executive President L. Enrique Garcia. Since its inception, OFID has committed more than USD 14.2 billion in support of sustainable development in 132 countries.