SPECIAL FEATURE
I n 2021, the OPEC Fund split its portfolio into Ordinary Capital Resources (OCR) and Special Capital Resources (SCR). This
linked to their distinct conditions. This renewed approach is framed within a Performance Based Allocation (PBA) system, which demonstrates how the combination of larger, more consistent and reliable funding will help achieve these countries’ development goals while at the same time enabling the OPEC Fund to maximize its development impact. The PBA, in turn, is driven by the results calculated by the OPEC Fund’s annual Country Policy & Institutional Assessment (CPIA). Classification of FSDS There is no agreed definition of what constitutes an FSDS. However, they do share many common characteristics: they are typically low income, have certain fragilities, may also have experienced conflict, and may be a small island. The World Bank, IMF, Commonwealth and the UN generally
use a small population of 1.5 million or less as the main defining feature 1 . Despite the diversity, the IMF and World Bank consider that several countries meet most of the criteria as set out in Table 1. This classification helps frame how the OPEC Fund thinks about and defines these states. However, population size is not always a helpful criterion as explained by the UN 2 : “Small states are incredibly diverse, with greatly varying sizes, populations, economies, natural resources, and vulnerabilities. Within the Forum of Small States at the UN, the population of member states ranges from less than 10,000 to more than 10 million. The unofficial category of ‘small states’ includes some of the most and least developed nations in the world, resource-rich and resource- scarce countries, and both island and landlocked states.”
enabled the institution to manage its resources and operations in the best possible way. While OCR includes partner countries with a higher level of economic development, the creation of the SCR special fund allowed the institution to grow its operations in the least developed countries by providing long- term and low-cost loans to support economic and social development. SCR partner countries display a range of factors: institutional weakness, fragility, conflict, and/or climate change precariousness. The OPEC Fund has developed a new approach to these so-called Fragile and Small Developing States (FSDS) with instruments that will help tackle some of the difficulties
Table 1: IMF and World Bank – Classification of Small States
Africa
Asia and Pacific
Europe
Middle East and Central Asia
Western Hemisphere
• Cabo Verde • Comoros • Eswatini • Mauritius • São Tomé and Príncipe • Seychelles
• Bhutan • Fiji • Kiribati • Maldives • Marshall Islands • Micronesia • Palau • Samoa • Solomon Islands • Timor-Leste
• Montenegro
• Djibouti
• Antigua & Barbuda • Bahamas • Barbados • Belize • Dominica • Dominican Republic • Grenada • Guyana • St. Kitts & Nevis • St. Lucia • St. Vincent & the Grenadines • Suriname • Trinidad & Tobago
• Tonga • Tuvalu • Vanuatu • Nauru
• Botswana (>1.5m) • Equatorial Guinea (fuel exporter) • Gabon (>1.5m) • Gambia (>1.5m) • Guinea-Bissau (>1.5m) • Lesotho (>1.5m) • Namibia (>1.5m)
• Brunei
• Cyprus (advanced) • Estonia (advanced) • Iceland (advanced) • Malta (advanced) • San Marino (advanced)
• Bahrain
• Jamaica (>1.5m)
(fuel exporter)
(fuel exporter)
• Qatar (>1.5m)
Note: Microstates are shown in italics
Source: IMF report “Engagement in Small States”, June 2020
1 World Bank: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/smallstates and https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/fragilityconflictviolence/overview#1 and https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/fragilityconflictviolence/brief/harmonized-list-of-fragile-situations IMF: https://ieo.imf.org/~/media/7AC76DCE2C6F4AF1A5BAFFEA3DB51936.ashx#:~:text=The%20IMF%20classifies%20as%20FSDS,this%20category%20(Table%201 Commonwealth: https://thecommonwealth.org/our-work/small-states 2 UN (2014): “Small States at the UN: Diverse Perspectives, Shared Opportunities”: https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/ipi_e_pub_small_states_at_un.pdf
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