Al-Mansour: 96% of Africa Benefited from Kuwait Fund Contributions

Kuwait has reaffirmed its commitment to continuing its support for development on the African continent and strengthening international partnerships to achieve the goals of the African Union’s Agenda 2063. This was stated in Kuwait’s address delivered by Diplomatic Attaché Yousef Al-Mansour to the United Nations General Assembly, during the discussion of the item on progress in implementing sustainable development in Africa, international support, causes of conflict, and the promotion of lasting peace on the continent. Al-Mansour said, “The African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development constitute two complementary frameworks for eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities, and enhancing the resilience of African societies,” emphasizing that peace and development are interlinked and cannot be achieved in isolation. He also referred to the “Silencing the Guns in Africa” initiative as one of the efforts aimed at consolidating peace and creating conducive conditions for development. Al-Mansour noted that the activities of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development have extended to approximately 96% of the continent through loans, grants, and development contributions covering infrastructure, energy, water, transport, and essential services. He recalled the Arab-African Summit hosted by Kuwait in 2013, which saw the launch of several development initiatives, most notably the Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Sumait Prize for African Development, worth one million US dollars annually, alongside the announcement of providing concessional loans to African countries worth one billion US dollars through the Kuwait Fund, and an initiative to invest and guarantee an additional one billion US dollars in cooperation with international institutions.