DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Empowering Benin’s workforce through vocational education About 2,000 students annually are expected to benefit
T he OPEC Fund is supporting green, inclusive and sustainable development in Armenia with a €50 million loan through its program lending instrument. This program aims to support the government’s developmental efforts to foster climate change mitigation and adaptation, improve environmental management and energy efficiency, enhance equity, promote human capital development and strengthen governance. The program was developed with the World Bank, which has provided a parallel loan of €92.3 million (US$100 million equivalent) for its implementation. Armenia’s Green Inclusive and Sustainable Development Program is aligned with the government’s five-year development plan (2021-2026) and includes fundamental steps such as a reform of the public investment management framework, a review of the justice system and relevant environmental legislation, an overhaul of the social assistance system and a modernization of the national curriculum strengthening Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Helping Armenia’s green, inclusive and sustainable development
T he OPEC Fund is extending a US$25.5 million loan to Benin to support the Ouidah & Djougou Vocational Training Schools Project which will upgrade existing school infrastructure and improve the educational curricula.
The program also includes training for teachers to provide them the latest skills. The schools will empower about 2,000 students every year, one fourth of whom are female. The project js aligned with a government program to tackle youth unemployment and reduce the informal sector.
Delivering clean energy development in Azerbaijan
300,000 households expected to benefit T he OPEC Fund is providing a US$50 million loan to ACWA Power to support the 240 MW Khizi-Absheron wind power project in Azerbaijan, which will strengthen the country’s electricity supply, diversify its energy mix and reduce carbon emissions. This will be the first utility-scale wind power project in the country and the largest in the Caucasus region. The PPP project is also the first independent wind power plant with foreign financing in Azerbaijan. Upon completion, it will generate 3.7 percent of Azerbaijan’s current energy production, supplying 300,000 households and offsetting 400,000 tons of emissions.
T he OPEC Fund has signed a €50 million loan with the West African Development Bank to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in green energy projects. Sub-loans will be available in the countries of the West African Monetary Union: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea- Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The loan is aligned with the OPEC Fund’s Climate Action Plan. Promoting SMEs and green energy in West Africa
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