JEDDAH, 30 May 2007 — Total finances extended by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group amounted to $46 billion till January 2007, according to official figures released by the bank on the occasion of the 32nd annual conference of IDB board of governors in Dakar, Senegal.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade inaugurated the conference at Meridien President Hotel in Dakar yesterday in the presence of IDB President Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Ali and finance and economy ministers of 56 member countries, an IDB statement said.
The conference witnessed the launch of a $10 billion Islamic Solidarity Fund (ISF), which aims at combating poverty in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries. Saudi Arabia has given $1 billion while Kuwait $300 million to the fund, which was established on the recommendations of the extraordinary OIC summit, which was held in Makkah in December 2005.
“The IDB in its capacity as an international Islamic financial institution is committed to exerting every conceivable effort and mustering all its energies and capacities to combat poverty,” said Muhammad Ali. “The bank will allocate $350 million annually for poverty reduction projects,” the IDB chief said. The Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF) has so far received $1.35 billion from 21 member countries.
According to an IDB statement issued yesterday, the bank has given 38.9 percent of its total finances worth $46 billion to finance development projects and as technical assistance in member countries, 59.7 percent to finance trade and 1.4 percent as aid and grants to Muslim communities in non-member countries.
Last year alone, the IDB group gave $5.2 billion in loans to finance 361 operations. Of that amount $2.17 billion were given to finance development projects and $2.95 billion to finance trade. The bank has so far financed 746 educational and health projects of 67 Muslim communities. The bank’s executive directors met in Senegal yesterday and approved new finances worth $763.2 million.
About 600 people representing international and regional finance organizations, in addition to representatives of Islamic banks, National Development Finance Institutions (NDFIs) in member countries, the Association of Contractors and Consultants in the OIC member countries, are participating in the annual meeting.
The 14th meeting of the board of governors of the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), the 7th meeting of the General Assembly of the Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD), and the second meeting of the General Assembly of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) will also take place on the sidelines of the IDB board meeting.
A seminar on “Capacity Building for Promotion of Trade and Investment in Africa will also be held in Senegal with the participation of well-known economists and personalities. It will explore the best ways and means of promoting the capacities of member countries in the African continent to develop trade and investments to boost economic cooperation and push forward the countries of the continent toward development.
