World Bank mission takes OPEC Fund to new level of cooperation

The OPEC Fund concluded its participation in the 2024 World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings with robust new financing commitments, signing loan agreements totaling nearly half a billion dollars with partner countries. These agreements underscored the OPEC Fund’s commitment to advancing global development goals, including climate resilience, energy transition, sustainable agriculture and socio-economic empowerment. 

President Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said: “The Annual Meetings provided a vital opportunity for the OPEC Fund to connect with key stakeholders and align our efforts to meet the development needs of our partner countries. Through new financing agreements, we are taking decisive steps to enhance connectivity, foster economic resilience and empower communities across our partner countries. In our numerous meetings we were able to foster partnerships and strengthen collaboration.” 

In a significant move, the OPEC Fund and the World Bank Group signed a Co-Financing Framework Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding. The aim is to enhance cooperation on key global development challenges and boost efficiencies in project implementation. The OPEC Fund targets total financing commitments of US$20 billion to partner countries over the 2025-2030 period. 

The agreements reinforce the institutions’ commitment to joint efforts in addressing the energy-food-water nexus, promoting climate-friendly investments and fostering regional cooperation and connectivity in an efficient and cost-effective way. 

OPEC Fund President Alkhalifa and members of the delegation met with regional Vice Presidents of the World Bank for a deep dive into various country and operational priorities. 

The OPEC Fund signed new loans in support of Benin, Bhutan, Côte d’Ivoire, Jordan, Oman and Uzbekistan (see Development News, pages 34-37) as well as partnership agreements to expand cooperation with development partner institutions such as the FONPLATA Development Bank and CAF–Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean and enhance efforts in the region. 

Vice President, Finance, Tarek Sherlala and Assistant Treasurer & Head of Funding Martine Mills Jansen held high-level meetings with investors, key debt capital market intermediaries and credit rating agencies. Discussions focused on funding activities, treasury-related issues as well as the latest developments in the community of multilateral development banks (MDBs), particularly those that may have an impact on issuances and credit ratings as MDBs continue to translate the G20 recommendations into concrete steps to meet the increased expectations of their shareholders and borrowers. 

Vice President, Public Sector Al Shaimaa Al-Sheiby and Public Sector Director, MENA, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Musab Alomar, attended the development financial institutions’ roundtable on Mission 300, dedicated to connecting Africans to electricity and organized by the World Bank. They also attended the G24 Ministers and Governors Meeting, the G24 Deputies Meeting and the Development Committee Meeting. In addition, bilateral meetings with Eduard Hakobyan, Deputy Minister of Finance of Armenia; representatives of the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey, and Sameh Wahba, World Bank Regional Director for Sustainable Development, ECA region, took place. 

Private Sector Business Development Director Khalid Khadduri and Senior Investment Manager Karin Oszuszky held meetings with other MDBs, development finance institutions, commercial banks and clients to support our private sector activities. These included meetings with the management of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the British International Investment (BII), ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), Trade and Development Bank (TDB) and the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO; commercial banks including Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Standard Chartered and others, as well as Global IME Bank, SQB and Rawbank. 

Country Manager Malak Draz met with the World Bank country managers for Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, as well as a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).