OPEC Fund earmarks $40m for Oman’s Yiti Sustainable City project

MUSCAT, SEPT 17
The OPEC Fund for International Development has approved up to $40 million in financing for the Plaza District of The Sustainable City – Yiti, extending the development institution’s growing funding footprint in Oman.
The allocation forms part of $645 million in new financing announced by the OPEC Fund on September 16 for projects across 14 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. The package comprises $435 million for public-sector projects and $210 million for private-sector operations.
The Oman financing will support construction of the Plaza District within The Sustainable City – Yiti, a major mixed-use development near Muscat targeting net-zero emissions by 2040.
Developed through a joint venture between OMRAN Group and Diamond Developers, the approximately one-million-square-metre beachfront community forms the first phase of the wider Yiti Integrated Tourism Development Masterplan.
The Plaza District comprises 17 buildings containing 1,225 apartments, around 13,400 sq metres of office space and 14,600 sq metres of commercial space. The wider development includes 300 houses, hotels, serviced apartments and a marina, alongside renewable power, desalination, wastewater treatment, district cooling and waste-management infrastructure.
The project is designed around renewable energy, water recycling, waste diversion, electric mobility and low-carbon construction, with the developer targeting net-zero emissions by 2040. The Plaza is currently scheduled for handover in December 2027.
The latest commitment follows a sharp expansion in OPEC Fund financing for strategic Omani projects. In 2024, the institution agreed a $180 million first tranche of a total $392 million financing package for the approximately 70-km Khasab-Diba-Lima road in Musandam, aimed at improving connectivity, market access and movement of people and goods.
More recently, the Fund provided a $50 million long-term facility for United Solar’s $1.6 billion polysilicon plant at Sohar Freezone. Designed for annual production of 100,000 tonnes, the facility is expected to support manufacturing capacity equivalent to as much as 40 GW of solar modules annually and create nearly 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.
OPEC Fund data puts its total approvals for Oman at $572 million before the latest Yiti allocation, concentrated primarily in transport and industry.
Founded in 1976, the Vienna-based OPEC Fund is a multilateral development finance institution supporting sustainable development worldwide. It has committed more than $32 billion to projects in over 125 countries. Oman is a partner country rather than a member of the Fund, whose present 12-country membership is distinct from that of OPEC.