(Ecofin Agency) - The countries of the Islamic Cooperation Organization (OIC) will benefit from $300 million provided by the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

In the related statement issued today April 6, the lender says the money will support the OIC countries that are most affected by the covid-19 pandemic. The financing is part of a mechanism called the COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative (RRI), which will help countries to respond to the immediate shocks associated with the pandemic.

A second mechanism called the Recovery Response Program (RRP) will help repair the socio-economic damage caused by the disease. The $550 million funds (to be deployed over the next two years), brings total planned disbursements to $850 million.

“These funds are being directly funneled towards eligible OIC member countries in most need of support for critical supplies of energy, healthcare, food security, and other life support requirements,” ITFC said.

ITFC is also “responding to the different requests made by Member Countries to provide immediate crisis-related technical assistance programs, including capacity building for medical personnel and capacity enhancement of laboratories but also supplying medical equipment and medicines through its network.”

As a reminder, the OIC is an organization created in 1969 consisting of 57 member states with more than twenty African countries. Three of them (Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria) have already exceeded 1,000 cases of covid-19.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou