OPEC contributes $4.4 billion to tackle fuel poverty

Contributions by members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to tackle global energy poverty have reached about $4.433 billion.

The contributions, which were made under the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), established at a Conference of the Sovereigns and Heads of State of OPEC Member Countries in Algiers in 1975, have taken an important leading role in efforts to alleviate global energy poverty.

An estimated 1.1 billion people live without electricity, while some 2.9 billion people do not even have clean cooking facilities. More than 95 per cent of these people live in either Sub-Saharan African or developing Asia, with the vast majority of them in rural areas.

Of the total contributions of $4.433 billion pledged in 2015 by OPEC member countries to OFID, about $213.3 million is expected to be dedicated to financing the energy sector.

This, the Secretary General of OPEC, Mohammad Barkindo, said, will directly benefitted 22 developing countries.

Speaking at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., last week, Barkindo said that OFID’s cumulative energy operations as of the end of 2015 accounted for almost $4.096 billion, representing about 23 per cent of OFID’s cumulative commitments.

These resources, according to him, have been distributed among 86 countries over the years, supporting infrastructure projects, research and capacity-building.

He explained: “Addressing energy poverty is a daunting but certainly not insurmountable challenge. We all need to consider ways to address this challenge, since it requires collaboration – especially by those countries with the greatest resources.