OFID signs loan agreements with Burundi and DR Congo

OFID Director-General Mr Suleiman J Al-Herbish (right) and HE Dr Dr Edouard Bizimana, Ambassador of Burundi to Germany.

July 23, 2014, Vienna, Austria. The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has signed three new loan agreements totaling over US$28 million with partner countries Burundi and DR Congo. The agreements were signed by OFID Director-General Mr Suleiman J Al-Herbish and HE Dr Dr Edouard Bizimana, Ambassador of Burundi to Germany, and HE Roger Shulungu Runika, Vice Minister of Finance of DR Congo. The loan agreements comprise:

OFID and Burundi have been partners in development since 1976, when OFID provided balance of payments support. Since then, public sector loans totaling nearly US$141m have helped support the country’s transportation, agriculture, energy and water supply and sanitation sectors.

Burundi has also benefited from regional grants that co-funded initiatives aimed at polio and HIV/AIDS eradication and helping strengthen the country’s agriculture and energy sectors. OFID has also extended national grants for a rural water supply and sanitation scheme and a re-integration program for Burundian refugees, as well as support channeled through the Common Fund for Commodities.

OFID has supported DR Congo's socio-economic development since 1977, having provided public sector loans totaling over US$68m to co-finance projects in the agriculture, transportation, health, energy, national development banks and education sectors. DR Congo has also been a beneficiary of regional grants in the areas of polio and HIV/AIDS eradication and a national grant for an education scheme, as well as funding channeled through the Common Fund for Commodities.