THE HISTORY OF THE OPEC FUND
Grants have played an important role in supporting research and mobilizing the latest developments in science. Long before the world talked about “Agriculture 4.0” the OPEC Fund started supporting attempts aimed at increasing crop yields and improving productivity to fight hunger, malnutrition and poverty. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), founded
“We are expanding our cooperation with the OPEC Fund beyond health, food and agriculture and climate resilience to help countries integrate nuclear power into
their energy transition strategies safely and responsibly.”
Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency, October 2025
in 1971 and dedicated to increasing the quality and quantity of food production in developing economies through research, training and technical assistance to national agricultural research systems, was a natural partner for the OPEC Fund. Cooperation started in 1979 and to date the OPEC Fund has approved US$23 million in grant assistance to CGIAR’s agricultural research centers for 130 projects. The OPEC Fund continues to support research with grant contributions. A close partner since the 2000s is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with a total of almost US$3 million in 15 grants provided to date. The two institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in October 2025, expanding their cooperation to include nuclear power and related energy applications to advance sustainable development and energy security. The IAEA’s Atoms4Food initiative helps countries boost food security via nuclear techniques. Meanwhile, the IAEA Rays of Hope program supports the fight against cancer by supporting the establishment and expansion of radiotherapy services. When the OPEC Fund was founded in 1976, the global population stood at 4.14 billion. By the time the institution marked its 40th birthday in 2015, it had grown to 7.3 billion. The steep increase continues and has become a source of serious challenges for education, food security, job creation and urbanization, among other areas. Mindful of the key importance of education, vocational training and skills enhancement for empowering communities, strengthening inclusion
Education sector approvals by region
and enabling sustainable development, the OPEC Fund has always placed special emphasis on its activities in the field. To date, the institution has supported the education sector with US$1.5 billion in loan and grant approvals across 500 projects, of which 95 percent were in the public sector. The first engagement was a US$3.3 million loan to the Technical Education Project in Papua New Guinea signed in 1982. The OPEC Fund’s financing included the creation of adequate infrastructure, for instance through the construction of school buildings, as much as the funding of designated training programs. Most recently, the OPEC Fund’s growing activity in Central Asia has also yielded results in the education sector of Uzbekistan. The OPEC Fund also supported education activities with a grant agreement in 2005 which sealed the cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The increased partnership with UN agencies was recognized a year later, when the United Nations granted the OPEC Fund UN Observer status. This allows the organization to participate and speak in the UN General Assembly without voting rights. The International Committee of the Red Cross, for example, has the same status.
Total approvals: US$1.52 BN
Latin America & Caribbean Asia Global
Africa Europe
Amounts under US$.09 MN may not be reflected in this chart
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