OPEC fund grants $50m to AFC to develop infrastructure

The OPEC Fund for International Development and Africa Finance Corp. (AFC) signed on Thursday a 10-year $50 million loan agreement to finance the development of infrastructure critical to economic growth and job creation across the continent.

The 10-year loan will be used to improve connectivity, transportation, logistics, trade and energy access across Africa, it follows the OPEC fund’s previous $50 million 10-year loan to AFC in January 2021.

AFC is a multilateral financial institution with 39 member countries, to provide financing and private sector-driven infrastructure solutions in key sectors including power, transportation, heavy industries, telecommunications and natural resources.

Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, AFC’s director general Africa “continues to be a key region” for the fund, “with more than 45 percent of our aggregate financing dedicated to the continent.”

The OPEC fund and AFC are collaborating to increase access to long-term sustainable finance for infrastructure projects. AFC has invested more than $11 billion in projects in 36 African countries.

The OPEC Fund, established in 1976, is the only globally mandated development institution that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively.