Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation, or APICORP, has partnered with the Islamic Development Bank to establish a $1 billion (SR3.75 billion) private sector-focused infrastructure fund.
The fund, called the Infra Initiative, will be used to finance facilities to strategic utility projects with limited access to international financing.
Under the plan, money will be allocated to electricity generation and transmission projects which utilize renewable energy and water and waste management facilities.
By encouraging public-private partnerships, the two firms aim to address low private sector participation in funding energy projects to bridge the $200 billion investment gap in similar projects among the Organization of Islamic Cooperation member countries.
The Infra Initiative is planned to launch for an initial period of three years, including all OIC countries.
Meanwhile, APICORP said its 2021-2025 MENA Energy Investment Outlook expects the share of private investments in regional energy projects to reach 27 percent by 2025, up from 8.5 percent in its 2020-2024 outlook.
