Abu Dhabi Fund for Development financed 11 projects worth Dh1.4 billion in nine countries last year in support of sustainable development and fighting poverty.
The fund allocated more than Dh646 million in four development projects as concessionary loans to Egypt, Antigua and Barbuda and the Maldives, it said in a statement on Wednesday. ADFD allocated Dh754m in development grants to projects in Colombia, Yemen, Comoros, Eritrea, Somalia, Palestine and Maldives.
“ADFD has long adopted an unequivocal development aid policy that mandates it to work towards eradicating global poverty and achieving sustainable development in developing countries," Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of the Abu Dhabi Fund, said.
ADFD's cumulative spend and investment reached Dh83bn, a Dh3bn increase from 2016, and expanded its reach to 88 countries by the end of 2017. The United Arab Emirates has become the largest donor of official development aid relative to national income globally, according to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister, minister of presidential affairs and chairman of ADFD’s board of directors. The UAE has supported socio-economic development projects in more than 140 countries worldwide.
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The Fund has enabled 88 developing countries to pursue their economic growth priorities and improve the standards of living since its inception in 1971, he said.
ADFD's interests include funding the renewable energy sector. Last year it allocated $25mn for two projects in renewable energy projects.
In 2017 it commissioned the Korea Development Institute, a think tank, to run a feasibility study investigating the need for a UAE-based export programme in line with the country's goals of diversifying the economy, reducing dependence on oil revenues, and preparing for the post-oil era.
