Projects across Botswana, Liberia and Sierra Leone are to receive a funding injection worth a total of US$240.2 million.

The funding is part of an overall US$890 million in new funding for projects across the world announced by the Opec Fund for International Development, reports Engineering News.

Botswana will be given a US$170 million loan to help finance its Governance and Economic Resilience and Support programme, which gives youth- and women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises greater access to finance. By the end of 2026, the programme will have supported 2 000 businesses.

In Liberia, the fund has awarded a US$30 million tranche loan to a project to rehabilitate a 50 km stretch of the Salayea-Konia road near the border with Sierra Leone. The new all-weather asphalt surface will reportedly cut travel time from 160 minutes to 45 minutes, benefiting about 300 000 people.

A special agro-industrial processing zone in Sierra Leone has been awarded a US$50 million loan and a US$200 000 grant to support its rice industry by creating a climate-smart hub.

The Opec Fund, founded 50 years ago, is the only global development institution that provides funding contributed by member countries to non-member countries only. It has committed more than US$32 billion to development projects in more than 125 countries.

7 April 2026
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