Development News 2025 Q2

Supporting food security and climate action in Uzbekistan 

The OPEC Fund is providing a US$35 million loan to state-owned Asakabank, which supports on-lending to food security and climate action projects in Uzbekistan. 

The operation will help increase access to finance for the agriculture sector and climate action projects throughout the country. Additionally, the project supports the government’s objective to mobilize capital investments in the banking sector. 

As the agriculture sector accounts for 25 percent of the country’s GDP and employs 25 percent of the total workforce, financing this area is essential to ensure food security, especially considering the threat extreme weather events have on Uzbekistan’s production of cotton and wheat. 

Fostering human capital in Burkina Faso 

The OPEC Fund is providing a US$30 million loan to Burkina Faso that will provide essential services such as free healthcare, cover hospital operating costs and distribute routine vaccines. The program will also organize exams, provide teacher training and equip educators with pedagogical kits. 

Additional support by the World Bank in the form of a US$100 million loan will provide for the immunization of 1 million children under five years old. Another 17 million free health care consultations are planned and more than 91,000 teachers and 700,000 students are also expected to benefit. 

Improving connectivity in Malawi 

A US$20 million OPEC Fund loan will co-finance a safer route linking several cities in southern Malawi by upgrading a crumbling single-lane road to a paved, two-lane road. 

The new 36-km section will improve travel safety, reduce transportation times and improve access to local markets. 

Co-financed with the Saudi Fund for Development the project fits with the government’s development agenda to improve the transportation sector across the southeastern African nation. 

Strengthening Bangladesh’s fiscal management and governance 

A US$96.1 million OPEC Fund loan to Bangladesh will support the government’s efforts to enact a series of reforms that focus on domestic resource mobilization, providing an enabling business environment and diversifying exports. 

Co-financed with the Asian Development Bank the program targets three reform areas: a) strengthening revenue-based fiscal consolidation, b) improving state-owned enterprise governance and streamlining the private sector regulatory environment, and c) strengthening trade policy, supply chains and logistics. 

Boosting the private sector in Côte d’Ivoire 

A €30 million OPEC Fund loan to Coris Bank International Côte d’Ivoire will support the growth of the bank’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) portfolio. 

SMEs play a crucial role in the national economy, making up 98 percent of companies, providing 23 percent of jobs and creating 20 percent of Côte d’Ivoire’s GDP. However, a financing gap estimated at US$2.3 billion (or 3 percent of GDP) creates a growth constraint for the vast majority of businesses. The project is expected to contribute to SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth and SDG 9 – Industry, Infrastructure and Innovation. 

Promoting economic inclusion and stimulating the green recovery in Kenya 

A €60 million OPEC Fund loan to the government of Kenya will support the implementation of a series of policy and governance reforms that aim to accelerate a green economic recovery. 

The reforms include the improvement of public expenditure management and enhance transparency in public debt. In turn, this will create the fiscal space necessary for fostering investments that promote inclusion and green growth, in particular generating opportunities for women and youth in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. 

Stimulating investment in East Africa 

A US$40 million OPEC Fund loan to the East African Development Bank (BOAD) will be utilized to finance small and medium-sized enterprises and infrastructure projects across various sectors in the bank’s member countries, which include Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. 

The loan is expected to be complemented by a US$25 million facility to be syndicated by the OEPC Fund. The financing will address a supply gap in long-term foreign currency funding in East Africa. 

Supporting Botswana’s private sector growth 

The OPEC Fund is providing a US$40 million loan to the Botswana Development Corporation, broadening access to financial resources for private sector companies. 

The project is expected to contribute to SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth by financing key sectors such as agribusiness, healthcare, education and renewable energy, all of which are key for economic diversification in the country.