Spending one billion dollars for food security in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa

World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Region, Farid Belhaj, said that about $1 billion was spent on food security in the current fiscal year in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.

Belhadj added, in an interview with Al-Arabiya, on the sidelines of the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, that with the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the World Bank moved quickly to mitigate its effects on the countries of the Middle East and North Africa region by pumping funds since April 2022 with about one billion dollars to Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and Djibouti.

He explained that Egypt was funded with $500 million, Tunisia with $120 million, Lebanon with $160 million, and Djibouti with $20 million.

He continued, “We are awaiting developments in those countries during the coming months to study the need for the possibility of expanding these funds, especially for the agricultural sector in those countries.”

He pointed out that the total amounts allocated by the World Bank for the countries of the Middle East and North Africa are estimated at about $5.6 billion during the current year, saying: “Next year we look forward to funding at the same level.”