The IsDB Group has signed an MoU with Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), the agency that implements France’s sustainable development policies, to cooperate on co-financing green projects in developing countries.
The MoU will guide both parties’ cooperation and co-financing initiatives aligned with the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement, from 2023 to 2028, and sets a target of US$1 billion (US$500 million each) for the period.
Investments made under the MoU will prioritize sectors where there is growing demand in developing countries, including climate and green finance, sustainable infrastructure and urban development, resilient and inclusive agriculture and food systems, education, health and social services and private sector development.
Dr Muhammad Al Jasser, the chairman of the IsDB Group, said: “AFD is one of the IsDB’s long-standing partners, having co-financed the IsDB’s very first operation in 1976. Our partnership has since gone from strength to strength and yielded over US$4 billion in co-financing, supporting total investments worth over US$10 billion, mainly in the infrastructure sector.”
Remy Rioux, CEO of AFD, commented: “[The MoU] concretely sets financial objectives, priority sectors of collaboration and a basis for operational exchanges at regional hub levels as well as at general management levels, to achieve them. It is exactly what we aim to do at a larger scale in the Finance in Common movement, representing 530 public development banks, be they bilateral, regional, multilateral or domestic, which can all contribute to redirect investment flows towards the SDGs.”
Finance in Common is a global network of public development banks aiming to push the global financial system toward meeting sustainability objectives. The yearly Finance in Common Summit Secretariat is led by Remy as the president, and the IsDB is a member of its executive committee.
In 2021, the IsDB and AFD co-financed a water and sanitation project in Benin worth a total of EUR129 million (US$140.85 million). The two parties have also jointly committed to financing a large-scale program focused on entrepreneurship, job creation and the development of fast-growing industries in Nigeria.