DUBAI/TASHKENT: Egypt has received the most financing from the Islamic Development Bank in 2020, getting funds of $1.13 billion in value, according to the bank’s annual report.
This represents a small chunk of IsDB’s total net approvals in 2020 which hit $6.8 billion last year.
Around $1.09 billion was given to Turkey, followed by Bangladesh at $1.06 billion, Morocco at $0.66 billion, and Nigeria at $0.61 billion, the report, which was released in the ongoing annual meeting in Uzbekistan, showed.
IsDB also contributed to COVID-19 relief in 2020, where it approved financing of around $2.3 billion.
Although IsDB works across the world, the bank focuses on social development projects in Africa and Latin America, Asia, and Middle East and North Africa.
The Riyadh-based development finance institution has 57 shareholding member states, but Saudi Arabia is its largest single shareholder.
It deploys funds to assist countries’ economic development, mainly targeting developing countries with high levels of poverty.
On Wednesday, the bank signed a financing agreement with Benin in West Africa, with a total value of $50 million.
The financing, under the bank’s Lives and Livelihoods Fund, will support community health and nutrition projects in the country.
Over 1,000 health professionals will be trained and deployed to rural areas for five years, and more than 4,000 community health workers will be involved in the project.
