Photo: World Bank
Regional integration is the special focus of our 2/2021 issue of the OPEC Fund Quarterly
, which includes interviews with some of the world s foremost development professionals. Here, we speak to
Cecile Fruman, the World Bank’s Director of Regional Integration and Engagement in South Asia, who shares her views about the importance of regional solutions and working with partners – including the OPEC Fund – to drive complex cross-border programs.
OPEC Fund Quarterly: Why is regional integration important from a development perspective?
Cecile Fruman: Our mission at the World Bank is to reduce poverty and boost shared prosperity, two goals that have become more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence has shown that regional integration is a high-impact strategy to create jobs and raise productivity by investing in inland waterways, roads, and other infrastructure, and reducing trade barriers. But improving cooperation and the ability to tackl
Last link in 4,600 km road drives regional integration
This story shows how the OPEC Fund supports regional integration – the topic of the upcoming issue of the OPEC Fund Quarterly - and a driver of decent work and economic growth (SDG 8) and industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9). Stay tuned for the soon-to-be published OPEC Fund Quarterly
!
Construction of the 225 km Arlit-Assamaka road in Niger – the missing paved stretch of the Trans-Sahara Road linking Algiers, Algeria to Lagos, Nigeria, with side links to Mali and Chad – will soon be completed. Financed by the OPEC Fund and other partners, including the government of Niger, the project will help reduce the isolation of rural communities and promote regional integration.