JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – The Board of Executive Directors (BED) of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) approved to finance projects worth US$800 million for improving the living conditions of the people in member countries and attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
IsDB President Dr. Mohammed Al-Jasser said that the projects were approved by BED, at its 352nd meeting in Jeddah, in key sectors such as energy, education, health and transport.
He said this will contribute to ameliorating the socio-economic challenges faced by the people and will accelerate the pace of achieving significant SDG targets.
He added that IsDB had made an emergency intervention to support the communities affected by the conflict in Sudan.
Al-Jasser said the contributions of the IsDB and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) are a multi-sectoral emergency response and provide life-saving support to approximately 125,000 people affected by the sudden outbreak of conflict in Sudan.
IsDB contributes US$195 million (182.26 million euros) to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and US$43 million (40.25 million euros) to the Republic of Senegal to improve transportation.
IsDB allocateS $40 million and US$51 million (48.05 million euros) to finance two projects aimed at improving the water, sanitation and health sectors in the Republic of Guinea.
The bank also gives US$49.8 million (46.57 million euros) to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and $19.8 million to the Republic of Mozambique to improve access to quality education in these two countries.
The BED also approved $200 million for Bahrain and 61.9 million euros to Nigeria to boost electricity transmission and innovation in the energy and information technology sectors.
The bank also approved 128.17 million euros to the Togolese Republic to improve infrastructure; $1.5 million to Sudan to support the people most affected by the conflict.
Al-Jasser described the projects approved by the BED as transformative, saying that they “will significantly impact the attainment of the SDGs’ objectives”.