Solidarity with the Least Developed Countries

War, earthquakes, hunger. As the international headlines are dominated by one crisis after the other, the poorest countries in the world rarely win the attention they deserve. The 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha in March put a spotlight on the 1.1 billion people living in the most vulnerable countries. An OPEC Fund delegation led by Director-General Abdulhamid Alkhalifa took the opportunity to reaffirm the institution’s commitment to the development of these countries. 

Director-Genera Alkhalifa said in a speech at the conference: “Our mandate is to promote sustainable development and alleviate poverty in these economies.” At the same time, he called on the international community to find new approaches: “We recognize that traditional financing models may not be sufficient […]. There is clearly a need for innovative solutions to tackle the challenges facing entrepreneurs, including limited access to capital and other resources.” 

Leading from the front, the OPEC Fund signed a grant agreement with the United Nations Capital Development Fund for the implementation of a joint Climate Finance and Energy Innovation Hub in cooperation with the UN-affiliated organization Sustainable Energy for All. The hub is designed to accelerate access to modern energy services and support energy transition in developing countries, particularly least developed ones. A first pilot offering clean cooking solutions is under preparation in Madagascar, while in the future Mozambique, Malawi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo could also benefit. 

Representing the OPEC Fund at the Ministerial Dialogue, Senior Director Al Shaimaa Al-Sheiby reiterated the need for new and innovative solutions, saying: “Investing in new skills and technologies has the power to turn the digital divide into a digital dividend for LDCs.” 

She also highlighted the role of the OPEC Fund as a long-standing advocate of South-South cooperation and an enabler to maximizing development impact. Ms. Al-Sheiby also stressed the importance of achieving the SDGs in LDCs through leveraging partnerships, addressing the climate crisis and mobilizing private capital. 

With participants from all over the world, the Doha conference represented a global effort to accelerate the sustainability agenda in LDCs on the basis of the “Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2022-2031”, adopted by the UN in March 2022. The conference’s goals were to mobilize additional international support and agree on a renewed partnership between LDCs and their development partners. 

The UN currently counts 46 countries as LDCs with an annual gross national income per capita of US$1,018 or below. Defined as the “poorest and weakest segment” of the international community, LDCs host about 40 percent of the world’s poor. LDCs account for 13 percent of the world population but only about 1.3 percent of global GDP and less than 1 percent of global trade and foreign direct investment. 

Emphasizing the potential of technological advances and innovation in support of development, the OPEC Fund participated in an event on “The Use of Technology to Reduce the Gap Between Investors and Entrepreneurs in Developing Economies”. As a special feature it included an avatar called Agora who introduced the panelists. Agora is a digital platform to provide potential investors with critical information and contacts. Asked about the prospect of including this sort of new technology into development work, Ms. Al-Sheiby spoke of a “win-win scenario”.