A RECORD YEAR AS A STATEMENT OF INTENT OPEC Fund increases commitments by 35 percent and announces ambitious new plans
The OPEC Fund will target total commitments of US$20 billion to partner countries up to 2030.
T he OPEC Fund posted record results in 2024 with strong increases in new financing and new projects. New commitments rose to US$2.3 billion, a 35 percent increase year-on-year, across more than 70 projects — itself a 40 percent increase over 2023. The commitments made in 2024 supported each of the OPEC Fund’s focus areas: Climate action, food security, infrastructure development, the energy transition, digital connectivity and the creation of economic opportunities for sound growth and sustainable development. The OPEC Fund supported large projects such as the landmark 1.1 GW Suez Wind Farm, the largest onshore wind facility in Africa, as well as smallholder farmers with bespoke microfinancing. The institution also launched sustainability-linked loans as new instruments and arranged its first syndicated loan, attracting a bank from one of its member countries to join a facility for a bank in a partner country. In another landmark the OPEC
Fund and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) executed an exposure exchange agreement, the first time this instrument has been used beyond triple-A-rated multilateral development banks. Good progress was also recorded with the delivery of the Climate Action Plan. The OPEC Fund surpassed its target, which aimed to focus a quarter of newly approved commitments on climate action by 2025, dedicating one-third of its financing to climate in 2022 and 34 percent in 2023. The OPEC Fund also launched a new Island Resilience Facility, underscoring its commitment to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in addressing climate change and strengthening resilience. Responding to strong demand the OPEC Fund also agreed to extend its Food Security Action Plan with a further US$2 billion for the period 2025-2030. In 2024, the OPEC Fund broke ground in new areas. A first project loan was signed
with the Kingdom of Bhutan, providing US$50 million in financing to the Begana and Gamri hydro project. Another premiere was the first loan signing with Montenegro, which dedicated €50 million to strengthening fiscal sustainability and the green transition of this southeast European country. Following a successful pilot the OPEC Fund signed its first US$35 million clean cooking loan in Madagascar. Strengthening support and solidarity the OPEC Fund entered a three-way arrangement with its member country Saudi Arabia to clear Somalia’s debt with the institution and enable the restart of operations in the east African country. At the sidelines of its annual Development Forum the OPEC Fund also hosted a roundtable for Sierra Leone to mobilize investments and earmarked US$250 million until 2030 in support of projects in the west African country. Recognizing the critical nexus between climate, land
and biodiversity, the OPEC Fund actively engaged in the UN Conference to Combat Desertification (COP16) in Riyadh in December 2024. The OPEC Fund committed US$1 billion as part of a US$10 billion pledge by the Arab Coordination Group in support of the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership. Following the strong performance in 2024 the OPEC Fund is approaching the coming years with ambitious plans: Responding to high global demand for development financing, the OPEC Fund will target total commitments of US$20 billion to partner countries over the period 2025-2030. This means delivering almost as much business in six years as during the previous 45.
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