Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest donors for African states, has pledged to provide SR 120 million to build educational facilities and implement water projects in Guinea, a West African nation.
A delegation of the state-owned Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) led by its Director General Yousef Al-Bassam visited Guinea last week to make an assessment of the urgent infrastructural projects and essential services.
“This new funding pledge brings the total number of projects financed by the SFD in African countries to 250 and globally to 494,” said Al-Bassam, here Thursday. Saudi Arabia is the biggest donor from the Muslim world and also one of the largest donors to Africa possibly next only to the US and a couple of other countries, he added. The total funds made available by the SFD to implement projects around the globe including Africa exceeds SR 35.6 billion today.
The SFD annual report gives a detailed account of the projects financed by the Saudi aid agency in Africa and several other countries around the world. These figures don’t include the donations or soft loan facilities extended by other Saudi aid agencies to many other countries. Referring to the annual report, Al-Bassam pointed out the number of loan agreements signed since the inception of the Fund’s activity in 1975 totaled to 511.
“Developing countries worldwide have benefited out of these projects and programs, 44 of which in Africa, 29 in Asia and seven other countries in different regions of the world,” revealed the report, a copy of which was obtained by Arab News. In fact, the dramatic increase in Saudi donations to humanitarian causes is impressive, a very substantial amount of Saudi funds go to African states now; said an African diplomat, while speaking on this occasion.
“Let me thank the Kingdom, which is focusing more on hunger, malnutrition and poor devastated infrastructural facilities … especially in African states,” said the diplomat. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is also by far the biggest donor to the World Food Program’s global activities. The Kingdom also focuses in its development policy on supporting priority projects in economic and social sectors in an attempt to actualize sustainable development in the recipient countries.
Referring to the new pledge made by the SFD for Guinea on last Wednesday, Al-Bassam said that the funds will be used to build four quality schools in that country. Part of the pledged amount will be used to cancel some of Guinea’s debt and reschedule others, while another part will be utilized to drill boreholes in that West African nation. A business group from Riyadh will also visit Conakry to explore investment opportunities and boost ties, he added.
The SFD is the apex donor agency of the Saudi government. The fund this year continued its developmental efforts as it contributed to financing 22 developmental projects in various regions of the world. It is also worth mentioning in this context that the SFD has contributed this year, and for the first time, to financing projects in Vietnam, Mozambique and in central Asian republics.
Kingdom is the leading donor for African states, says SFD
