Buhari praises Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for funding developmental projects across Africa

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has praised the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for the impact it is having on the economies of Nigeria and other African nations through the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

 

Over the last week, President Buhari has been in Saudi Arabia attending the 14th OIC summit, where among other things the use of Islamic finance to fund infrastructural projects was discussed. According to the African Development Bank, Nigeria has an annual infrastructural deficit of $100bn and as the country's 2019 budget is only $24bn, alternative sources of funding are desperately needed.

 

Unlike Malaysia, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey that have used Islamic Finance widely, Nigeria has not really tapped into it as a source of funding. Only a few projects have been funded by the IDB in Nigeria but President Buhari has passed a vote of confidence in these intervention programmes.

 

President Buhari said: “The robust interventions of the various OIC institutions and principally the Islamic Development Bank Group, have been effective in such key sectors as trade and investment, agriculture, rural development and food security, science, technology and innovation, poverty alleviation as well as women and youth empowerment. In particular, Nigeria acknowledges the support of OIC member states in countering the menace of terrorism and armed criminality in West Africa, the Lake Chad area and the Sahel Countries.

 

"We appreciate their contributions in the alleviation of the humanitarian crisis arising from the insurgency but urge them to do more. We also appreciate their contributions in the alleviation of the humanitarian crisis arising from the insurgency but urge them to do more.”

 

He highlighted the Inter-Water Basic Transfer, aimed at recharging the Lake Chad, the National Food Security Programme, the Second Niger Bridge, various roads and school rehabilitation projects as areas in which Nigeria has attracted the support of OIC institutions. On issues of concurrent global significance, President Buhari said the African members of the OIC were pleased with renewed efforts by the organisation for the restoration of the national rights of the Palestinians and other long-standing unresolved conflicts.

 

President Buhari, however, noted that many OIC member states were grappling with serious security problems, including terrorism, violent extremism and armed criminality. He said some of these challenges have assumed grave dimensions in recent times and required serious and coordinated approach for lasting solutions.

 

"In addition to the core issue of the restoration of the national rights of the Palestinians and other long-standing unresolved conflicts, we now grapple with serious security problems, represented by the destructive activities of terrorists, violent extremists and armed criminals in many of OIC member states. This situation has also been compounded by a series of political crises, which continue to affect a number of our countries.

 

"In this regard, we support the actions of the OIC in seeking an early resolution to the lingering Palestinian question and the rights of the Palestinian people to an independent homeland. We equally subscribe to the various actions of the OIC in resolving the crises in Syria, Yemen and Libya and commend OIC engagement with other international actors in addressing the various political conflicts in the OIC region and the plight of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar,’’ President Buhari said.

 

He also used the occasion to express confidence that the on-going political transition in Sudan and Algeria would be concluded smoothly and peacefully. President Buhari thanked King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud for hosting and chairing the 14th OIC summit and Turkey's President, Recep Erdogan, whose tenure just ended for his commitment to the ideals of our organisation and his efforts in ensuring that the OIC achieved its set goals and objectives.

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