Jeddah, KSA – Niger’s Senior Minister and Minister of Planning, Land and Community Development, HE Amadou Boubacar Cisse, has signed a EUR 11.6 million (US $13.2 million) financing agreement with the Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali at IDB Group headquarters in Jeddah. The financing will contribute to supporting the country’s national health program especially meant for stemming the spread of different diseases in the Republic of Niger.

Through this program, the ministry of health of Niger is seeking improvement of advanced services to the public, boosting the means to fight epidemics, ensuring continuation of vaccinations and promoting medical research thus securing the health related millennium development goals.

While at IDB Group headquarters, HE Dr. Cisse signed another agreement with Mr. Khaled Al Aboodi, CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), IDB’s arm for private sector development. As per the agreement, ICD will provide advisory services to Niger to set a Sukuk program for an aggregate principle amount of CFAF 150 billion (US $300 million) over a 5 year period (2015-2020). The amount will be used to finance development projects in the country.

The Republic of Niger is a founding member of the IDB and to date the IDB Group has approved nearly US $610 million of financing for the country in such sectors as agriculture, education, power generation, health, industry, mines, roads, as well as Islamic finance.