SPOTLIGHT
Strides in Clean Cooking: Showcasing Partnerships
OPEC FUND IN ACTION
Scaling up Social Safety Programs: Lessons learned from COVID-19
Ahead of our panel session entitled “Bhutan: The Role of Hydropower in Transforming the Economy”, Yousef Almulhem, OPEC Fund Country Manager for Asia and the Pacific, spelled out the essential context and our everyday work that unites development with climate action: “Nestled in the Himalayas between India and China, Bhutan has enormous hydropower potential, boasting over 35,000 MW of clean renewable energy from more than 150 sites nationwide. The country has so far developed just 7 percent of its hydropower potential, yet the sector already accounts for an impressive 40 percent of national revenues and 20 percent of the national economy. The OPEC Fund is working to provide a loan for a value of US$30 million, set for approval next year, to support two small hydropower projects in Bhutan — Gamri (45 MW) in the east of the country and Begana (30 MW) in the west. These power plants will mainly cover local demand through mini grids, but will have the option to plug into Bhutan’s main grid, which already exports energy to neighboring India and Bangladesh, at a later date.” Highlighting a range of critical issues including energy, environment and health ahead of our panel on “Strides in Clean Cooking: Showcasing Partnerships”, Lewnis Boudaoui, OPEC Fund Senior Country Manager for Eastern and Southern Africa, said: “More than 2 billion people worldwide still rely on open fires or polluting stoves to cook their daily meals. That in turn leads to over 3 million deaths globally each year from household air pollution, as well as deforestation and other environmental damage. Our session will
highlight the importance of partnerships in achieving universal access to clean cooking, as well as the
resilience across the entire value chain, from the smallholder in the field until the finished product is shipped out. In other words: How through innovation — be it technological, financial or
broader challenges and opportunities of scaling-up projects to achieve SDG 7 – Clean and Affordable Energy. The National Clean Cooking Transition Program in Madagascar is
Adebayo Babalola, OPEC Fund Director discusses the challenges and opportunities of scaling-up projects to achieve SDG 7 – Clean and Affordable Energy
operational — can we build more resilient
and sustainable food systems to prevent a repeat of the pressures
based on a US$35 million loan from the OPEC Fund. We are now preparing further roll outs of our clean cooking program across Africa — in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda — in partnership with UNIDO and Sustainable Energy for All.” Demonstrating the breadth of climate action and how it requires innovative public and private sector input, the OPEC Fund spoke on the rollout of our Food Security Action Plan, adopted in 2022. Ahead of our panel discussion on “Building Resilient Food Systems”, Khalid Khadduri, OPEC Fund Business Development Director for Private Sector and Trade Finance, said: “Innovation and integration are key to building resilient food systems. In Africa, for example, new technologies and digitalization are helping farmers with weather forecasts and crop yields. That data is in turn shared with banks, allowing farmers to gain easier access to financing. We’re therefore seeing more and more integration of small-scale farmers into the entire system. That is what we want to explore in this session: How to improve
we’ve faced over the last couple of years? In April 2023, the OPEC Fund provided a US$50 million loan to Banco Continental S.A.E.C.A. for on-lending to SMEs in Paraguay. As part of the OPEC Fund’s Food Security Action Plan, the investment covers the financing needs of farmers and livestock SMEs, which form the core of Paraguay’s economy and labor force.” The OPEC Fund was honored to contribute to COP28: to showcase our overarching plans as well as our daily operations, to strengthen old alliances and seal new partnerships, while sharing the latest innovations and best practices from multiple angles. We helped to reframe the conversation around climate finance, as the world strives to integrate the private sector and real economy – including the production and flow of goods and services – into climate action; and we were delighted to help shift the international community towards a new mindset. In the words of COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber: “A new mindset, where solutions to the climate challenge become the drivers of a new economic age.”
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