Kuwait has extended a $1 billion soft loan kitty to African states for the next five years and pledged to provide investment and investment guarantees worth another $1 billion to the continent in partnership with the World Bank and other institutions.

Kuwait’s Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah said this during the opening of the third Africa-Arab summit on Tuesday. Arab and African leaders gathered for the two-day summit in Kuwait City are to review steps to promote economic ties between wealthy Gulf states and investment-thirsty Africa, Gulfnews.com reported.

“I ordered officials of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to provide soft loans worth $1 billion to Africa over the next five years,” Shaikh Sabah announced.

He said “(the) investments and investment guarantees worth $1 billion” over the next two years will focus on infrastructure projects.

The Kuwait Fund is the oil-rich Gulf state’s investment and aid arm in African, Asian and Arab countries. So far it has provided billions of dollars in low-interest loans for development and infrastructure projects.

Thirty-four heads of state, seven Vice-Presidents and three heads of government are attending the third Africa-Arab summit, which brings together 71 countries and organizations.