Azerbaijan’s large oil and natural gas reserves have put it at the forefront of major energy distribution in Central Asia. Natural resources play a significant role in the country’s economic growth, with the energy sector accounting for one third of Azerbaijan’s GDP. Over the last 30 years however, daily power shortages have been a commonality for the residents of Central Aran in Azerbaijan as Shirvan, the age-old power plant in the district, proves unstable and inefficient. This has had a knock-on effect for households, businesses and farmers, who faced low productivity, delays in production and high production costs.

The biggest impact of Kavaja’s new hospital is clearly for its patients. Today, the city’s 120,000 residents benefit from modern healthcare facilities. But before the new hospital building was constructed, people in this coastal, rural area lived with low standards of healthcare, similar to those found across many regions outside of Albania’s capital, Tirana.

Djibouti’s economy has performed well in recent years: GDP growth reached 6.5 per cent in 2015/16, and two major infrastructure projects have been completed – the new container port at Doraleh, which opened in 2009, and the railway that connects Djibouti City and its ports to Ethiopia, which opened in 2017.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s rock phosphate deposits are estimated at 960 million tonnes – the 11th largest reserves in the world. In 2009, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), set about developing these natural resources – and in doing so, diversifyed the country’s export economy – through the Ma’aden Phosphate Fertilizer Complex project. The Saudi Arabian Mining Company, Ma’aden, was given the responsibility to extract and process the phosphate. It successfully established a phosphate fertilizer industry, simultaneously providing a national income stream outside of the oil sector and establishing new centres of economic activity in Al-Jalamid and Arar in the north of the country, and Ras Al-Khair on the east coast. Saudi phosphate fertilizers are now exported all over the world, supporting both the national economy and global food production.

Domestic production of renewable energy is playing an increasingly important role in Pakistan’s energy mix, as the Government of Pakistan bids to reduce the dependency on imported fossil fuels. Hydroelectric power is a leading contributor to this, capitalizing on the country’s natural energy resources.

The Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) has been a success story since it opened in 1988 however its popularity meant that it was severely oversubscribed and sufficient high standard accommodation was lacking. The university believed that providing better accommodation, would encourage more international students to come to the university and would help the university in their long-term goal of achieving a 50:50 split between national and international students.

In Chad, 80 per cent of the population depends on farming and livestock, with many people living in remote rural communities. Chad is also landlocked, making trade with its neighbours vitally important. With no railways and few rivers, Chad is hugely reliant on its roads Since 2006, the Islamic Development Bank has supported the Government of Chad in their impressive improvement of the national road network. These projects have opened up previously isolated parts of the country, providing rural communities with crucial access to markets and services. And the economic benefits can already be seen: agricultural production has increased as farmers know they can sell their produce, and reduced travel times support many other businesses.

Between 2012 and 2015, The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) provided financing for the energy sector, supporting four renewable-energy development projects and six energy-efficiency projects.

One of the most important areas of focus for the IsDB, in their goal to help promote human development, is the reduction of poverty – one way to achieve this is through supporting microfinance institutions. In 2017, the IsDB invested TD 2.8 million (around US$ 1.1 million) in the equity capital of Zitouna Tamkeen (ZT), a full-fledged Islamic Microfinance institution with an authorized capital of TND 20 million (US$ 8 million), based in Tunisia. The mission of the ZT Microfinance Institution is to “Participate in the economic inclusion of disadvantaged groups through Islamic Microfinance, promoting initiative and supporting self-employment projects"

The project, which was supported by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), constructed boreholes, water treatment and storage infrastructure, and distribution pipes across the Thies and Fatick districts of Senegal. This has brought clean, safe water to hundreds of remote villages, where previously people were forced to use dirty, salty water drawn from wells.

Beneath the Sahara Desert lie gypsum, phosphate salt, zinc and Mauritiania’s main source of foreign exchange: Iron ore. Much of it is exported via a large port at Nouadhibou owned and managed by Societe Nationale Industrielle et Minere (The National Industrial and Mining Company, known as SNIM). The company is a huge driving force behind the economy contributing to around 25-30 per cent of Mauritiania’s total economic activity each year.

Agriculture, food security and rural developments are the main areas of focus for the Islamic Development Bank’s intervention in Iran.