EVENTS
OPEC Fund President Abdulhamid Alkhalifa and AfDB President Sidi Ould Tah signed an enhanced MoU
“This partnership is a strategic opportunity to accelerate sustainable agricultural and agribusiness development across Africa.”
Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, President, OPEC Fund
technical expertise and private sector participation to scale agricultural value-chain development across the continent. Through coordinated financing, shared infrastructure, targeted incentives and structured value chain linkages, SAPZs enhance competitiveness, reduce investor risks and attract sustained private capital. They are central to Africa’s agricultural transformation, bridging rural and urban economies by linking smallholder farmers to structured value chains, processing facilities and consumer markets. Under the SAPZ alliance, the OPEC Fund and TDB Group will work with existing members to mobilize blended finance and catalytic capital, support project preparation and risk-mitigation tools, strengthen value chains and accelerate job creation and rural industrialization. President Alkhalifa noted that the objectives were fully aligned with the OPEC Fund Food Security Action Plan and added: “This
partnership is a strategic opportunity to accelerate sustainable agricultural and agribusiness development across Africa.” Another milestone in the cooperation with AfDB was a high-level consultation with the Arab Coordination Group (ACG), an alliance of 10 development finance institutions including the OPEC Fund. AfDB President Tah has long welcomed “a more structured and entirely strategic partnership.” The consultation ended with a “joint declaration on strategic partnership,” launching a new phase of cooperation and paving the way to a Financing and Operational Partnership Framework. Set to be elaborated in 2026, this plan will define options for co-financing, pipeline coordination, mutual reliance and regular joint programming.
The ACG is one of the largest supporters of African development. The group’s cumulative financing on the continent exceeds US$220 billion over the last five decades. In November 2023, the 10 ACG members pledged US$50 billion in investments with an emphasis on energy, climate mitigation and adaptation, food security, regional integration and private sector financing. OPEC Fund President Alkhalifa said: “Faced with the decisive transitions Africa is facing, development banks have to be prepared to work together more closely, not only in financing but in implementation. This is why we are scaling up our engagement. Our objective is not simply to increase volumes, but to support these transitions in a way that is practical, coordinated and focused on results.”
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