The governing body of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has approved a $ 13 Million loan for the development of Fourah Bay College. The fund is meant “to enhance the quality of higher education by expanding and rehabilitating existing facilities” which will enable the college to increase enrolment levels and to prepare them for the job market among other things.
Speaking to Politico, the Assistant to the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor of Fourah Bay College, Alpha Badamasi Savage said the project will cost $ 35 million and is co-financed by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA). He expressed delight over the project which kicks off early next year. It is among the 22 loans and grants approved during OFID’s 141st session early this month to boost socioeconomic development in its 23 partner countries.
OFID's key aim is to foster social and economic progress in the developing world through the provision of concessional financing for developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa's oldest institution of higher learning is in a decrepit state with weak infrastructure, insufficient classroom, poor and uninhabitable hostels, among others.
