BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. Azerbaijan has been allocated more than $110 million in new financing from the OPEC Fund for International Development, aimed at improving infrastructure and expanding access to finance for small businesses, TurkicWorld reports via the Fund.
The funding was approved at the institution’s 195th Governing Board meeting as part of a broader $890 million package supporting development projects across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe.
Under the public sector window, Azerbaijan will receive a $90.4 million worth loan for the Sumqayit Wastewater Treatment Plant Project to construct a 100,000 m³/day facility. The project will improve sanitation for at least 427,000 people, reduce pollution in the Caspian Sea and enable the reuse of treated water for agriculture.
In the private sector, Azerbaijan will benefit from an additional $20 million, marking the OPEC Fund’s first synthetic local currency loan — to support a systemic financial institution and expand MSME lending.
The broader $890 million financing package is designed to strengthen infrastructure and transport connectivity, enhance food security and climate resilience, and scale up climate-focused investments. It also targets improved access to finance for MSMEs across multiple regions.
The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) is the only globally mandated development institution that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively. The organization works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international development community to stimulate economic growth and social progress in low- and middle-income countries around the world. To date, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$32 billion to development projects in over 125 countries with an estimated total project cost of more than US$240 billion.
