VIENNA - The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has signed a €50 million loan with the West African Development Bank (BOAD) to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through other financial institutions and for green energy projects.

Sub-loans under the agreement will be available in the member countries of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

OPEC Fund Director-General Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said, “We are pleased to further expand our cooperation with BOAD in line with two strategic priorities of our institutions: providing access to finance for local businesses and promoting green energy solutions to support cheaper, cleaner and reliable sources of electricity generation. We are committed to contributing to growth and sustainable development in the WAMU member countries.”

Serge Ekue, President of BOAD and Chairman of its Board of Directors, said, “I am pleased to sign this new loan agreement with the OPEC Fund. It is one of our key partners which stands by our side for more than four decades, helping us to carry on with our mission as provided under Article 2 of our Articles of Association, which is to promote the balanced development of our member countries and foster economic integration within West Africa, by financing priority development projects for the overall well-being of our populations.”

The OFID and BOAD have been collaborating since 1983 and, to date, have jointly financed 25 public, private and trade finance projects. The OPEC Fund has also provided three direct loans to BOAD to support private sector and trade finance projects in the WAMU.

The new financing is aligned with the OPEC Fund’s Climate Action Plan, which commits the institution to dedicate 40 percent of all new financing to climate-related investments by 2030.