Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Senegal sign $144m agreements

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Senegal have signed agreements amounting to $144 million (CFAF 69 billion) for the financing of three projects in Senegal. The signing took place at King Fahd Palace Hotel in Dakar, on the sidelines of the IDB Group High Level Regional Forum as part of the 40 years celebrations of the IDB. The agreements were signed by Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, Chairman of the IDB Group, and Amadou Ba, the Minister of Economy and Finance of Senegal. The three projects are "the Floods Impact Mitigation Project in Dakar" for which IDB will provide $39 million, "the Building Resilience to Recurring Food Insecurity Program" for which IDB's financing is $26 million, and "the Northern Dakar Sanitation Improvement Project" where IDB will provide $79 million, the Jeddah-based IDB said in a press statement. The signing ceremony took place shortly after the opening ceremony of the High Level Regional Forum in Dakar in the presence of the Senegalese Prime Minister Mrs. Aminata Toure. During the ceremony, IDB President Dr. Ahmad Ali thanked the government of President Macky Sall for its hospitality and support to the IDB Group. Since Senegal joined the IDB in 1976, its cooperation with the bank has been growing steadily. Over the years, the IDB Group has approved a total of $1,229 million for Senegal. This consists of 106 operations in project financing activities for $869.2 million, seven Special Assistance operations for $14.2 million, trade financing for $282.60 million from the International Islamic Corporation for Trade Financing, $31.5 million from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and $31 million from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC). Recently, IDB has been focusing on the transport sector where around $296.6 million has been committed through combined modes of financing (ordinary financing and concessionary loan). The portfolio is well diversified and covers the major sectors of the Senegalese economy. The President of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali has stated that its time to take advantage of the growth of Sub Saharan Africa in order to maximise the development impact in IDB member countries and Muslim communities in non-member countries. Dr Ali made the remarks in his keynote speech in Dakar, the capital of Senegal during the High Level Regional Forum organized by IDB for 17 sub-Saharan African countries, and Muslim communities in non-member countries, as part of the 40 years anniversary celebration. He said, "Sub-Saharan Africa is today among the fastest-growing regions worldwide, and its growth rates are expected to exceed those of all other regions. In this regard, we need to emphasize the following lessons learnt from the development process in the coming years. "Joint action and synergy have a double impact as they help overcome impediments to development locally and reinforce economic competitiveness internationally"Cooperation is an effective tool in attaining MDGs and is even more important to post-2015 objectives." And finally "the time has come for us to take advantage of economies of scale, manage shared resources, rationalise local supply and procurement mechanisms, and access to international markets."