The OPEC Fund for International Development, known as the OPEC Fund, increased its new development commitments to $1.7 billion last year.
The Fund contributed to financing 55 projects worldwide, encompassing areas such as addressing the impacts of climate change, energy transition, supporting development and economic, social, and climate resilience, job creation, enhancing food security, and sustainable growth.
A statement issued from the Fund’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, marking the 48th anniversary of the OPEC Fund’s establishment, highlighted the increase in the Fund’s investments in development support, achieving a new record in development project financing of $1.7 billion last year. The Fund is working towards its 2030 goal of allocating 40 percent of its total new financing to climate action.
Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, the Director-General of the OPEC Fund, stated, “The OPEC Fund’s impact in 2023 was enhanced by providing development support in a global environment full of challenges.”
He noted the Fund’s success in developing its lending program across all areas in response to strong demand from partner countries, its success in raising additional funds from capital markets, and leveraging its partnerships with multilateral development banks and development finance institutions to mobilize support for development.
The statement outlined the Fund’s strong performance in 2023, revealing the distribution of its investments with 42 percent in Africa, 20 percent in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Central Asia, 20 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 18 percent in Asia, the Pacific, and the Caribbean, through public and private sector lending, trade finance, and grants.
