The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) signed today in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire a bilateral agreement to postpone the outstanding debt owed by the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire for development projects financed by the Fund. On the sidelines of a visit paid to the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire by SFD's delegation headed by Director General of Financial Operations Saeed bin Mohammed Al-Qahtani, the agreement was signed with the Minister of Economy and Finance Adama Coulibaly on behalf of the Government of Côte d'Ivoire, in the presence of the Saudi Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Subaie and a number of officials from both sides. This comes as a continuation and implementation of the initiative of the Group of Twenty under the presidency of the Kingdom in 2020 regarding the postponement of outstanding debt owed by the least developed and poorest countries, and based on motivating countries to take advantage of the created financial space to increase social, health and economic spending to face the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. The agreement also aims to postpone the amounts owed by Côte d'Ivoire for development projects and their rescheduling. It is worth mentioning that more than 33 developing countries around the world have benefited from the debt deferral initiative from the soft loans financed by the SFD to these countries. The Saudi Fund for Development has also provided the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire since 2005 with (7) development projects through soft development loans worth more than $104.65 million, in the sectors of transportation, transportation, education, health, housing and urban development. On the other hand, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has, through the SFD, has provided a grant worth of 6 million dollars, to implement the Saudi Program for Drilling Wells and Rural Development in Africa (the 5th phase, as the program is still in the preparation stage for implementation).
