The approvals covered a large number of strategically important development projects comprising US$ 683 million for power generation and power transmission projects in five IDB Member Countries namely Morocco, Tunisia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan; $274.8 million for food security and rural development activities in African countries (Cameroon, Chad, Uganda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Togo); $ 146.2 million for educational projects in Indonesia, Yemen and Bangladesh; $ 45 million to Indonesia Exim Bank for the financing of export-oriented small and medium size industries; $ 7.6 million as additional financing for Durres fishing in Albania (bringing IDB contribution for that project to $ 16.8 million) $ 400,000 Technical Assistance grant to Djibouti for the “Mother to Child AIDS Transmission Prevention Project “in the health sector.
In line with the Bank’s resolve to support development efforts in Muslim communities in non-member countries, the Board approved $ 1.1 million as grants from the Wakf fund for participation in 4 educational projects for Muslim communities in Ethiopia, India, Papua New Guinea and Germany and one health project in the Philippines.
During its meeting, the Board reviewed a number of important reports including the progress report on the implementation of IDB’s program for supporting Youth Employment in Arab Countries for which the Bank had already allocated $250 million and another report on the latest developments on the establishment of the Mega Bank, aiming at liquidities management for Islamic banks, and for which a tripartite Memorandum of understanding was signed earlier between the Government of Qatar, the IDB and the Dallah Al Baraka Group.