The 294th meeting of the board of executive directors of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) which had convened since December 22, approved a total of $ 285.4 million toward financing new development projects in member countries and Muslim communities in non-member countries.

Under the recent approvals, an amount of $120 million is allocated for the Maaden Wa’ad Al-Shamal Phosphate Project in Saudi Arabia for the production of high quality chemical fertilizers; $79 million to Northern Dakar Sanitation Improvement Project in Senegal; and $35 million to Kabala Water Supply Project in Mali for the development of drinking water networks in the capital city of Bamako.

The board also approved $ 2million for Mali for preparation of a feasibility study and detailed engineering design for a portion of the Trans – Sahara road linking Kidal to the Algerian border.

IDB has been funding several parts of this economically strategic road which has a main axis linking Algiers to Lagos in addition to several branches (over a total length of 9,000 km), and is eventually crossing in to Algeria, Tunisia, Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria, all of them IDB member countries.

Other financing approvals included: $21.3 million for Reconstruction of Osh-Batken-Isfana Road Project in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan linking the country to neighboring states; $17.4 million for support to Upgrading Public Health Laboratories Project in Uzbekistan as well as $9 million for participation in the Integrated Rural Development Project of the Plains of Diagble in Togo.

A total sum of $750,000 is also to be funneled into four educational projects in Muslim communities in Bosnia Herzegovina ($200,000), Guyana ($150,000), Thailand ($200,000) and US ($ 200,000) as special assistance under IDB’s Waqf Fund, while a sum of $ 400,000 will be provided (under operations authorized by the IDB President) as technical assistance grant to Chad, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria and Yemen to help them prepare Malaria prevention and control programs.

The board also discussed the special arrangements for celebrating the 40th anniversary of the IDB on the occasion of the annual meeting of the IDB’s Board of Governors to be held on 25-26 June 2014, in Jeddah.