OPEC Fund signs $40 million loan to boost food security in Africa

The OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) has signed a $40 million loan to strengthen food systems, support the livelihoods of more than 600,000 farmers, reduce environmental impacts and enhance food security across sub-Saharan Africa.

According to Sky News, the statement issued by the OPEC Fund headquarters in the Austrian capital, Vienna, explained that the financing contributes to strengthening the capital of the ETC Group, one of the largest managers of the agricultural commodity supply chain in Africa, and announced that it is the first OPEC Fund loan linked to sustainability, as the loan terms include achieving environmental and social goals, improving governance, stimulating the improvement of farmers’ livelihoods and enhancing food security.

Dr. Abdul Hamid Alkhalifa, Director General of the OPEC Fund, stressed that the Fund’s first sustainability-linked loan demonstrates the Fund’s commitment to promoting sustainable development through innovative financing. He pointed to the Fund’s interest in addressing food security, strengthening agricultural value chains, and improving the livelihoods of small farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, and its commitment to embedding sustainability at the heart of the Fund’s operations with the private sector.