It was announced on Monday during the IDB board of executive directors' meeting which began under the chairmanship of IDB President Ahmad Mohamed Ali in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday.

The board approved SR905 million ($241.4 million) to be spent on development projects in Chad, Iran, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Togo, Lebanon, Niger and regional technical assistance grant for youth employment in the Arab world (engaging the private education sector).

The board also approved grants from Wagf Fund for projects for Muslim communities in Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Besides approving the projects, the board also reviewed the preparations for the bank's two-day annual meeting which will be inaugurated by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday, says a press release issued by the Jeddah-based bank.

This year's meeting is taking place with special emphasis on IDB's partnership with member countries. In this connection, the 56-member multilateral bank's recently signed accord with Turkey came up for discussion with board members observing that this could be replicated with other member countries. The board also reviewed a progress report on developing partnership agreements with other member countries focusing on each country's priorities.

IDB president informed the board of the three emergency relief worth $3.4 million that he has approved for the victims of floods in Tajikistan, ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan and food crisis in Niger.

The board, which will remain in session until the conclusion of the annual meeting, is scheduled to discuss a number of administrative and technical matters.