IEF Lecture - OFID's Nexus: Food, Water and Energy
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The IEF Secretary General was honoured to welcome Mr Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) to the IEF Secretariat to present an IEF Lecture on OFID’s perspective of the Food, Water and Energy Nexus. Mr Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, a Saudi national, has been the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of OFID since November 2003. He has been especially vocal on the issue of energy poverty alleviation, a cause he has championed tirelessly at the highest level and one that forms the central pillar of OFID’s strategic plan.
Mr Al-Herbish’s presentation (available for download below) shared OFID’s views on the relationship between the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on the food, water and energy nexus. Mr Al-Herbish discussed the intricate relationship between the nexus and how OFIDs efforts aim to enhance progress towards reaching these goals and eradicating energy poverty worldwide.
Mr Al-Herbish holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Cairo and an MA in Economics from Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas. Prior to his appointment at OFID, he served for 13 years as the Governor of Saudi Arabia at OPEC. He is currently in his third term of office at OFID, having been re-elected unanimously by the institution’s highest authority, the Ministerial Council, in June 2013.
The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) is the development finance institution established by the Member States of OPEC in 1976 as a collective channel of aid to the developing countries. OFID works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international donor community to stimulate economic growth and alleviate poverty in all disadvantaged regions of the world. It does this by providing financing to build essential infrastructure, strengthen social services delivery and promote productivity, competitiveness and trade. OFID’s work is people-centred, focusing on projects that meet basic needs - such as food, energy, clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education with the aim of encouraging self-reliance and inspiring hope for the future.
