Middle East and North Africa

House of Lords written question – answered at on 9 February 2012.

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Photo of Lord Hylton Lord Hylton Crossbench

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 31 January (WA 320), what funds have been released during the past six months by the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the International Financial Corporation to countries in the Middle East and North Africa in order to increase employment; and what was the amount released to Tunisia during the past six months.

Photo of Baroness Northover Baroness Northover Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip), Lords Spokesperson (Department for International Development)

Information on African Development Bank (AfDB), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank disbursements during the past six months to increase employment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is currently not available. Where information on aggregate disbursements or commitments for calendar year 2011 is available, it is shown below. Although these figures cannot be disaggregated to provide an exact figure on spend to increase employment, a large share is expected to contribute directly or indirectly to job creation. the World Bank disbursed US$ 1.56 billion to the MENA region during the period 1 July to 31 January 2011, of which US$ 510 million was for Tunisia;the IFC committed $1.314 billion to the MENA region during the period 1 January to 31 December 2011, of which $29.9 million was for Tunisia; andthe AfDB disbursed $618 million for Tunisia during the period 1 January to 31 December 2011.

More information on disbursements by country and sectors will be available in AfDB's annual report which is expected to be published in May, and in the World Bank and IFC annual reports which will be published by October.

All three institutions have approved a number of new investments over the past 12 months to boost job creation in the MENA region. These include: i) World Bank and AfDB loans totalling $100 million to increase access to small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) finance in Tunisia; ii) an IFC $200 million loan and $50 million equity investment in an Egyptian construction company; iii) a World Bank $250 million development policy loan to the Government of Jordan; and iv) an AfDB €20 million investment in an SME equity fund for Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

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