A meeting of minds

Shortly after assuming office, the new President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, welcomed OPEC Fund Director-General Abdulhamid Alkhalifa to a first meeting in Washington, DC in late September. The two heads of institutions covered a wide range of topics and emphasized their commitment to strengthening cooperation. “Our joint goal is to secure development at a time of growing global challenges,” said Director-General Alkhalifa. 

With more than 230 joint projects to date with a collective project value of US$37.8 billion, the World Bank is the OPEC Fund’s largest development partner. 

Upon starting his term in June, President Banga immediately set out to implement his vision to “rewrite the World Bank’s playbook”. The largest development finance institution in the world has started a reform process outlined in its “Evolution Roadmap,” which examines its mission, operations and financial capacity. One key task is “to reimagine strategic partnerships with other multilateral banks and development organizations,” as Mr. Banga put it. 

Addressing this point, Director-General Alkhalifa underlined the OPEC Fund’s long-standing development partnership with the World Bank and our readiness to increase cooperation: “The needs are huge and public funds are scarce. So it is imperative that we pool our resources, increase our efficiency and deepen our impact. We must act as pioneers and create conditions that attract private sector investment in areas and regions where they are presently not sufficiently available.” 

The OPEC Fund itself is also in the middle of a comprehensive transformation with the goal of expanding its operations, further increasing its effectiveness and deepening its impact. In response to rising demand for its support, the OPEC Fund’s approach ensures it is best placed to deliver on its South-South mandate and boost sustainable development. 

The meetings also provided the OPEC Fund delegation, which included Assistant Director-General, Financial Operations, Tarek Sherlala and Senior Advisor Sami Ben Daamech, with the opportunity to present the latest achievements and initiatives such as the Climate Action Plan and the Food Security Action Plan. 

The meeting with World Bank President Banga concluded the OPEC Fund’s latest mission to Washington. Following the UN SDG Summit in New York (see page 56) the OPEC Fund travelled to the US capital and met with Adam Wang-Levine, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate, and Lida Fitts, Director Sustainable Infrastructure Office, at the US Treasury, as well as with Larry Sacks, Chief Development Officer at the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).