The Private Sector Facility[11] (PSF) was established in 1998 to meet partner countries` growing demand for investment in private sector enterprises, which is increasingly seen as an engine of economic and social growth. The facility is a market-based financing window that responds to the demand for financing in developing countries to support its development strategies for the private sector. The PSF strives to promote economic development by fostering the growth of productive private enterprises in developing countries and supporting the development of local capital markets. Successful interventions stimulate economic growth, create jobs and incomes, thereby reducing poverty. Since 2008, the OPEC Fund has worked tirelessly to put energy poverty at the top of the international agenda and has been responsible for the universal acceptance of the eradication of energy poverty as a „missing“ Millennium Development Goal. By providing affordable development finance to countries and regions that are often difficult to cover, the OPEC Fund helps solve market challenges by promoting the market, while fostering cooperation with and among the world`s most vulnerable regions. Following the first OPEC Summit held in Algiers, Algeria, in 1975, Member States committed themselves to providing collective financial assistance to developing countries. As a result, the Finance Ministers of the Member States met in 1976 and established the OPEC Special Fund, through which the Member States transferred aid to developing countries. The OPEC Special Fund began operations in 1976 with initial resources of about $800 million. By the end of 1977, it had lent 71 loans to 58 developing countries and transferred grants from its member States to other development institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Trust Fund and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (FIAD).
Public sector credit[10] is the central pillar of the OPEC Fund`s activity and accounts for more than two-thirds of total cumulative commitments. These operations are carried out in direct cooperation with partner country Governments in support of their national development strategies. Opec`s loans to the public sector are conceding, with low interest rates and long repayment terms. Credit conditions are based on several factors, including the gross national income per capita (GNI) of each partner country. The OPEC Fund`s contribution to the HipC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) initiative is also part of the public sector. The OPEC Fund for International Development is a multilateral development finance institution, founded in 1976. Its 12 member countries are: Algeria, Ecuador, Gabon, Indonesia, IR Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. In 1980, Member States decided to transform the temporary mechanism into a permanent legal entity called the OPEC International Development Fund.
in May 1980, it became a permanent international development agency. The OPEC Fund constantly strives to build on its founding principle of South-South solidarity, especially with low-income countries, and by focusing on people and partnerships, it maximizes development impact in an increasingly complex and challenging development landscape. . . .