Jeddah, KSA, 21.04.2014 - Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, signed a US$ 60 million financing agreement with Mauritania’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Development (and IDB Governor for Mauritania) H.E. Dr. Sidi Ould Bebaha Ould Tah towards financing the expansion of Nouakchott Dual Power Plant in Mauritania.

Once operational, the power plant will enable Mauritania to meet the increasing demand for electric energy and export surplus power to neighboring Senegal, enhancing the country’s revenue as well as promoting regional economic integration.

The signing came on the occasion of a Joint Meeting of Arab Financing Institutions in Tunis, Tunisia, where CEOs and senior representatives of many Islamic and Arabic financing institutions as well as several economy and finance ministers of the regional countries where present.

While in Tunis, the IDB Group Chairman also attended the opening ceremony of a specialized workshop on Economic Empowerment through Islamic Micro-finance where he commended the success of the economic empowerment program for Palestinian families. This program, despite difficulties, led to transitioning of 13,000 Palestinian families from a relief aid-recipient status to a self-reliant income generating status, a success which was the result of contributions from Arab Financing Institutions as
well as the support of the Al Aqsa Fund. “This success demonstrates the capacity of joint Arab action to win the war on poverty and strengthen the steadfastness of our people on their land in Palestine. It is a gift to the Ummah to inspire a new approach towards reducing poverty and unemployment in our communities, and a call to those active in the Islamic banking industry to pay more attention to the issue of economic empowerment and create more financial instruments to meet the needs of the
poor and thus play a greater role in development”, stated Dr. Ali.