The Board of Executive Directors of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) concluded its 278th meeting in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, approving allocations of more than US$ 890 million of financing for strategically important development projects in a number of member countries as well as some other projects for Muslim communities in different parts of the world. The Board also ratified the establishment of a unified Sharia’ board to issue Shari’a compliant decisions for Islamic financial industry related issues in the entire IDB Group.
The major approvals of the meeting which convened on Sunday under the chairmanship of IDB Group President, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, included; “US$ 219 million for a medical project in Turkey, US$ 200 million for a water supply and sanitation program in Azerbaijan Republic, US$ 150 million for contributing to a dam construction project in Sudan, US$138 million for a power plant in Morocco, US$ 116 million for a road and transport project connecting Chad to Niger as well as US$ 60 million for a hydro electric project in Pakistan”. The members of the IDB Board of Executive Directors further approved Technical Assistance Grants totaling nearly US$ 2 million for educational and infrastructural projects in MENA and Africa regions in addition to US$ 720,000 in grants for operations under IDB WAQF Fund for Muslim communities in India, Malawi and the United States.
With the recent approvals in place, the IDB has accomplished its set financing operation target of US$ 4.1 billion for the present fiscal year, 2011, registering an unprecedented achievement due to the Bank’s financial strength as its approvals during the year before stood at US$ 3.72 billion.
The board members also authorized the IDB President to increase the Bank’s contribution in the capital of the United Bank of Albania (UBA) by US$ 5 million. The meeting was then informed of IDB’s accepting Turkey’s Bank Asya as a strategic investment partner in the capital of UBA.
Also featuring on the meeting’s agenda were an update report on the IDB Group’s reform program in addition to implementation of IDB’s Youth Employment Support Program for Arab Countries as well as a progress report on IDB Group Member Country Partnership Strategy Program (so far signed with Turkey, Indonesia, Mali, Mauritania and Uganda) which comes in the framework of the Bank’s continuous efforts in contributing to comprehensive human development and social advancement of its member countries and Islamic communities in non-member countries.

The full details of the financing approvals of the 278th Meeting of the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors are as follows;
Projects:
- US$ 219 million for The Reconstruction and Upgrading of Okmeydani Training Hospital (OTH) Project under the Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness Project (ISMEP), Turkey
- US$ 200 million for Support to the National Water Supply & Sanitation Program in Six Regions, Azerbaijan Republic
- US$ 150 million for contributing to financing of construction of Atbara dam, the Republic of Sudan
- US$ 138 million for the Upgrading of Coal Unloading Terminal for the Expansion of the Jorf Lasfar Power Plant, Morocco
- US$ 116 million for Construction of Massakory-N’Gouri-Bol Road Project, Chad
- US$ 60 million for Star Hydro Power Company Limited (SHPL) (The Patrind Project), Pakistan
Technical Assistance;
- US$ 1 million as Technical Assistance Grant for contributing to the Technical Assistance Facility (TAF): Part of the Arab Financing Facility for Infrastructure (AFFI) (The initiative between IDB and the World Bank)
- US$ 500,000 as Technical Assistance Grant for Arabic Language e-Learning in Africa (Chad, Mali, Niger & Senegal) extended to Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ICCI
- US$ 400,000 as Technical Assistance Operation for the support to the Prevention of Mother to Child HIV Transmission in the District of Bertoua, East region, Cameroon
Operations Under IDB WAQF Fund;
- US$ 350,000 for Completion of Anoor Academy of Greater Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
- US$ 220,000 for Construction of MEMNON Primary School in Mzuzu town, Mzimba District, Malawi
- US$ 150,000 for Construction of Huda Intermediate College, Jagdishpur Town, Sultanpur District, Uttar Pradesh State, India