IDB President Bandar Hajjar (left) and Djibouti’s Minister of Economy Ilyas Dawaleh sign agreement to finance hospital construction.

Jeddah (IINA) : The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group and the Republic of Djibouti signed an agreement worth $77.8 million to finance the construction of a general hospital in the capital city Djibouti.

IDB President Dr. Bandar Hajjar and Djibouti’s Minister of Economy and Governor of the Central Bank Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh signed the agreement at a ceremony held at the IDB headquarters in Jeddah on Sunday.

The project aims to support efforts to combat disease, promote health and achieve economic and social well-being in the Horn of Africa nation.

Speaking on the occasion, Dawaleh stressed the importance of the partnership between his country and IDB, which resulted in many development projects, including the road connecting Djibouti with Somalia and the submarine communications cable system which contributes to making Djibouti a major communications hub in Africa, among other regional projects.

Dawaleh said Djibouti is looking forward, with the support of the IDB, to becoming the link between Africa and the Arab world in the halal industry and Islamic banking. He added that Djibouti also aspires to the IDB’s support in the social development and capacity building to improve the public and private sectors as well as supporting the country’s efforts to implement the Five-Year National Plan (2016-2020).

The minister said that Djibouti is working through its partnership with the IDB Group to realize regional integration and enhance trade exchange between the countries of the region.

For his part, Dr. Bandar Hajjar stressed the IDB’s readiness to assist Djibouti in the areas of human development and capacity building and to make every effort to ensure the success of the National Plan aimed at promoting the economic and social development of the country. He pointed out that IDB is studying the projects submitted recently by the Ministries of Health, Housing and Environment, as well as the Ministry of the Promotion of Women and Family Welfare, with the aim of contributing to their finance.

It is noteworthy that the total funding approved by the IDB Group for Djibouti has reached $256 million in support of 56 projects in various sectors of economic and social development, particularly in human development represented in education and health, which are one of Djibouti’s top priorities.