The Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has approved a grant of 600,000 US dollars tor for the Austrian Development Agency to further develop a solar power project in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
The project aims at reducing energy poverty by increasing access to solar energy. It is expected to improve the living standards of seven thousand people.
In addition, OFID will provide 400,000 dollars to the Austrian non-governmental organisation Hilfswerk for a programme to reduce maternal and child mortality in 12 districts in the central Mozambican province of Sofala.
The governing body of OFID met in the Austrian capital Vienna. OFID is funded through voluntary contributions from the member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). At the end of 2015, contributions pledged by OPEC members to OFID totalled 3.5 billion dollars with the organisation holding a further 2.6 billion dollars in its reserves.
Source: AllAfrica
