A statement released by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) on April 27 says the bank has approved approximately US$418 million to fund new development projects in member countries. The meeting was reportedly held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on the first day of the 2024 IsDB Group Annual Meetings and the Golden Jubilee marking the 50th Anniversary of the Bank.

The Board chaired by IsDB President, Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, in particular, approved 150 million US dollars for the Roghun hydropower plant project (HPP) in Tajikistan.   

According to the statement, the funds will be spent for the construction of the Roghun HPP’s Lot-4 (Left Bank Structures).

The Bank says the project aims to provide clean, affordable, and reliable renewable electricity to meet the country's growing domestic demand, enhance energy security, and commercialize it through the regional power market.

Recall, the first two generating units of the Roghun hydropower plant were introduced into operation in November 2018 and September 2019 to much clamor, but there has been limited progress since then.  The third unit is expected to be introduced into operation in 2025.   

Once completed, Roghun will be fitted with six 600 megawatt turbines, amounting to a total installed capacity of 3,600 megawatts.  Eurasianet notes that as Milan-based WeBuild (formerly Salini Impregilo), which has been contracted to implement the project, has claimed on its website that is “the equivalent of three nuclear power plants.”

The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  There are 57 shareholding member states with the largest single shareholder being Saudi Arabia.

Tajikistan joined the Islamic Development Bank on November 27, 1996 and has a capital subscription of ID 18.2 million (0.04% of total IsDB subscribed capital).

The IsDB supports implementation of investment projects in education, healthcare, energy, transportation, agrarian and other priority socioeconomic sectors of Tajikistan.