PREPARATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS
A new grant-financed facility will help the OPEC Fund and its partners to pool resources in order to deepen impact. In 2022, the Fund provided US$6 million in grants to partner countries worldwide.
Grants are a key feature of the work of multilateral development banks. They finance essential preliminary work such as feasibility studies, provide crucial assistance during project implementation and support valuable impact assessment. The OPEC Fund responded to the growing role of grants by recalibrating its approach under its Strategic Framework 2030. This is leading to concrete results as reflected in the 2022 performance. The inaugural OPEC Fund Devel- opment Forum in June provided the backdrop to the signing of the first project preparation and implementation support trust fund with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Vienna. The OPEC Fund will initially contribute US$3 million to the facility, while the ADB will manage it in coordination with the OPEC Fund. The trust fund aims to build a pipe- line of bankable projects, including sovereign and non-sovereign lending operations, which the OPEC Fund will
have the option of financing with the ADB and other development partners.
Specifically, the trust fund will support preparatory activities to help ensure improved project readiness. It will facilitate public and private sector projects in all sectors where the OPEC Fund and ADB operate with a focus on infrastructure, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation, communication, water & sanitation and other basic and social infrastructure. The quality of preparation plays a key role in the implementation of projects according to schedule and within budget. The facility will also contribute to the more efficient and effective implementation of development projects financed by the OPEC Fund, alone or in cooperation with partner countries and other co-financers.
These two trust funds represent another important milestone in our long-standing partnerships with the ADB and CAF, and will allow us to expand our cooperation in the area of technical assistance to achieve our common objectives. The two facilities will enhance the quality at entry and improve the implementation readiness of projects co-financed with the ADB and CAF, which are essential to the timely and effective delivery of their expected development results.
In October 2022, the OPEC Fund and CAF – Development Bank of Latin America signed an agreement to
WALID MEHALAINE Head of Grants & Technical Assistance, Strategic Planning & Economic Services, OPEC Fund
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