The United States announced on Wednesday a $255 million program to support emerging democracies.
As part of this effort, the US International Development Finance Corporation is providing a loan of up to $100 million to Siddhartha Bank to facilitate lending to small and medium-sized businesses in Nepal.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power announced the funding on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
USAID is providing $23 million for projects in Malawi, Zambia, Nepal and Ecuador, which the agency says will be used to stabilize democracy, promote job growth and mobilize investment.
Another project in Tanzania aims to develop a digital portal to reduce corruption in public procurement.
The initiative also includes $110 million from businesses and charities for projects such as developing battery storage systems in Malawi, electrification projects in Zambia, strengthening food security in Malawi and improving cybersecurity in Moldova.
“Overall, every safer birth and every more transparent government institution helps give people greater confidence that their government is working for them and can actually meet their needs,” Blinken said. “And all of this helps build support and power for democracies that actually produce real results.”
Some information in this report comes from Agence France-Presse.
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