Ahmed Hamad al-Nuaimi: ‘Very happy to partner with IFC’
In a move that widens its role as a multilateral development bank, the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) has signed the ‘accession agreement‘accession agreement’ to the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Master Co-operation Agreement (MCA). Apicorp is the first Arab multilateral development bank to sign IFC’s MCA accession agreement. Qatar owns a 10 % stake in
Apicorp.
The agreement enables Apicorp to partner with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, to co-finance developing country energy projects in which Arab countries have made
investments.
IFC’s Master Co-operation Agreement promotes increased collaboration with international financial institutions to help standardise steps that lenders take when co-financing projects with IFC in developing countries.
Apicorp chief executive and general manager Ahmed Hamad al-Nuaimi said: “We are very happy to partner with IFC to support economically vital energy projects in the developing world. Such concerted support is critical to ensure crucial projects do not get delayed in the current economic environment, especially when such delays can have an impact on economic development. Many Arab states have oil and gas investments spanning the globe; the agreement with IFC will enable Ahmed Hamad al-Nuaimi to support these investments efficiently.”
Al-Nuaimi said: “Apicorp’s robust balance sheet and financial stability as well as our strong industry expertise place us in an ideal position to finance oil and gas projects in developing economies. Our partnership with IFC is consistent with our strategic drive to widen our investments across the energy and petrochemical sector. Over the last few months, we have participated in financing transactions in the energy and petrochemical sector with a total value of $1.3bn with our commitments now approximately around $130mn. We are now looking for new opportunities to further grow this.”
IFC created the MCA in response to calls by the G20 nations for increased collaboration among international financial institutions to help meet financing shortfalls during the global financial crisis.
Lars Thunell, IFC chief executive officer, said: “IFC and Apicorp share a desire to support economic development and regional co-operation in the Middle East and North Africa, and to collaborate on energy-related projects in emerging markets globally.”