The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) focuses on alleviating poverty and stimulating economic growth in developing countries through various operational strategies including digital transformation. With increasing operational demands, OFID is adopting an integrated enterprise information management system to streamline processes, enhance transparency, and support its mission. The adoption of advanced digital solutions like SAP ERP and electronic document management systems aims to optimize operations, manage risks, and improve overall efficiency in delivering humanitarian aid.

1. cloud, Internet of Things and
big data will continue to
underpin and support the
evolution of OFID’s global
operations and further en-
hance its avowed commit-
ment to end extreme pov-
erty.
In the OPEC Fund for Inter-
national Development
(OFID), the Public, Private,
Trade and Grant operations
are charged with the oner-
ous responsibility of deliver-
ing on the institution’s noble
mandate and her strategic
vision of “Uniting against
Poverty”. As OFID’s opera-
tional base continues to
grow and expand due to an
increased portfolio potential;
and as new windows of busi-
ness opportunities are being
exploited, the imperatives
for a more integrated, stand-
ardized, reliable and secure
enterprise information man-
agement system becomes
even more critical. Digital
advances such as analytics,
mobility, social media, the
Executive Summary
Introduction
It was a warm Saturday
morning specifically for the
government and people of
the old Republic of Sudan,
having been the first to re-
ceive approval on August 07,
1976 for the sum of
US$7,450, 000.00 Balance of
Payment (BOP) facilities
from the OPEC Fund. This
operation supported by its
earliest pioneer staff mem-
bers, did not only announce
the arrival of OFID in the
development finance institu-
tion’s arena but also marked
a significant milestone in the
evolving south-south coop-
eration narrative.
OFID was established by
member states of OPEC as a
collective channel for aid to
developing countries. OFID
works in cooperation with
developing country partners
and the international donor
community to stimulate
economic growth and allevi-
ate poverty in all ramifica-
tions. It does this by provid-
ing development based fi-
nancing to build essential
infrastructure, strengthen
social services delivery and
promote productivity, com-
petitiveness 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.
As OFID’s operational base
continues to grow and ex-
pand due to increase in its
lending portfolio, windows
of new business opportuni-
ties are being exploited and
challenges continue to be
uncovered. In this context,
the evolution of a more
integrated, standardized,
OFID
July, 2015 Volume 1, Issue 2
Operations Digital
Evolution
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Inside this issue:
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2. reliable and streamlined oper-
ational support system be-
comes more obvious. This
phenomenal growth over the
years meant OFID had to get
ready for increased global
opportunities, contributions
and challenges.
Prior to 2004 most of the
operational activities that
related to projects, loans and
disbursement were undertak-
en as separate entities using
manual steps, disparate com-
puter application systems and/
or in-house developed appli-
cation – Management Infor-
mation System (MIS). The
risks associated with the op-
eration of these systems cou-
pled with the need for a visi-
ble, transparent, integrated
and auditable platform to
support growth, necessitated
the re-appraisal of OFID’s
information technology sup-
port model and the evolution
of an integrated strategic plat-
form. OFID’s external and
internal Auditor’s recommen-
dation over the years on the
need for a streamlined system
incorporating best practices,
and the mitigation of observed
challenges and risks were also
given priority.
from this position grew within
OFID almost at a precipitous
rate resulting to an operation-
al /administrative slowdown in
the years 2003.
The segregated or depart-
mental approach to handling
OFID’s corporate data in
individual data silos worked
for many years. The demand
for increasing transparency,
visibility and accountability as
OFID’s operation and staff
strength grew; (including the
associated risks and issues of
data silos without a corre-
sponding Management over-
view) resulted in the clamour
for change. The challenges,
issues and conflicts resulting
Key Challenge
Need for Digital Evolution
programmed in Gupta pro-
gramming language; serving as
the first operational support
and management reporting
system. At the time, the total
number of operational project
was just over 600 with an
approved total loan amount of
approximately US$2.97B
while the signed net contract
was US$2.5B.The MIS was
commissioned by the Opera-
tions Department for its pub-
lic sector loans and disburse-
ment management functions
with the aim of further
providing a system for track-
ing the progress of projects,
administering disbursement
and re-payments, while also
providing loan accounting
functions. It is noteworthy
that the MIS system design did
not fully deliver on the above
objectives but as operations
and the associated complexi-
ties grew, system re-design,
daily design modifications and
manual interventions were
constantly required. These
manual modifications and
interventions grew with time,
aggravating support and
maintenance cost, user moti-
vation and morals coupled
with other critical business
The phenomenal growth in
operations, both in terms of
number and size (see figure 1-
OFID Operations) necessitat-
ed the provisioning of a com-
puter system to better facili-
tate project execution, moni-
toring and reporting. Hence
the year 1992 marked the
commencement of the MIS, an
OFID in-house designed stand
-alone application based on
the Centura database system;
Using technology to
radically improve
performance and
propel OFID’s core
business into the
Digital Age…
Jacobs Edo
Page 2
Operations Digital
Evolution
OFID Sectorial Allocation

3. Enterprise information man-
agement is the key transform-
ative technology for the digital
economy. It equips the digital
enterprise with the ability to
simplify, evolve, and accelerate
its business processes in a
digital-first world. We now
live in a digital age, and infor-
mation is its currency. Infor-
mation has replace size, scale,
access to resources, and geo-
graphic presence as a key
driver of competitive ad-
vantage for the enterprise.
Only institutions that can
leverage their information
asset to evolve, innovate and
grow will be the ones that
succeed in the medium to
long term.
In view of the foregoing, an
OFID enterprise information
system adoption became nec-
essary to better address the
aforementioned challenges
and get the institution ready
for the future. All administra-
tive and transactional process-
es for core businesses – com-
pliance, loans and grant man-
agement, risk and project man-
agement needed to be com-
prehensively integrated into a
single system. In 2006 after
due considerations, OFID
Management adopted and
started the implementation of
the SAP Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) System and
OpenText Electronic Docu-
ment Management System
(EDMS) as its strategic infor-
mation management systems
going forward. The vision was
and still is to streamline and
standardize all OFID’s admin-
istrative and core business
processes to be able to work
with timely and accurate data
that would support effective
and efficient decision making
in the future.
Implementing the above solu-
tion at the enterprise level
to 17 different international
organizations led by the United
Nations) customer implemen-
tations including implementa-
tion by other sister organiza-
tions – first pioneered by the
African Development Bank im-
plementation. SAP ERP promis-
es to deliver powerful func-
tionality, global orientation,
and flexible enhancement
package options needed to
gain a sustainable, competitive
advantage and position the
entire institution for viable
The SAP ERP application plat-
form is the leading software
foundation enterprises trust
to achieve business excellence
and innovation. Leveraging
this foundation and its inte-
grated industry-specific func-
tionality, one can build the
best business processes re-
quired for today as well as for
future businesses. Based on
industry best practices, SAP
ERP draws from more than 30
years of experience with
more than 182,000 (in addition
and sustainable growth. SAP's
enhancement package strategy
provides a more economical
and less disruptive way of
adopting and managing soft-
ware releases and future sys-
tem upgrades. This unique
delivery and deployment
method for enterprise soft-
ware enables OFID to take
advantage of new software
functionality while meeting the
expected need to maintain
stability and integrity of the
application systems and
Operations Digital Evolution Strategy
SAP Enterprise Resource Planning?
Operations Digital Evolution Objectives
the need to further leverage
existing in-house ERP systems
with the SAP Consumer
Mortgage and Loans (CML)
and Business Partner (BP)
modules completely integrat-
ed with OpenText Enterprise
Content Management (via
enterprise workspaces – pro-
jects, loans, disbursement, ac-
counting, treasury and payment,
etc.), creating the integrated
ONE OFID working space for
documents and records.
 Integration and Opti-
mization
 Centralization and
standardization
 Automation and Sim-
plification
In order to meet and surpass
the above expectations, Man-
agement also wished for
greater transparency and con-
trol over complex business
processes related to managing
and streamlining of projects,
loans and business partner
data. As a strategic and go-to
support partner of operations,
the IT department realized
“SAP ERP -as a
dynamic &
innovative platform
to support OFID’s
digital evolutionary
objectives”
Page 3
Volume 1, Issue 2
allows the institution to get rid
of standalone and disparate
computer application systems
replacing them with a single
enterprise software solution.
The key difference is the crea-
tion of a ‘Single Version of
Business Truth’ thus eliminating
enterprise data inconsistencies
and organizational conflicts.
This requirement is now a
common denominator and
country independent legal stat-
ute for both national and inter-
national businesses and transac-
tions.
stronger focus on its Adaptive
Digital Strategy Framework
(ADSF).

4. At the core of the institution’s
activity are its operation busi-
ness processes in the public,
private, trade and grant units
tasked with the onerous re-
sponsibility of delivering on its
noble mandate. To do this
effectively and efficiently, the
operations officers need a
wide range of tools to per-
form tasks such as: project
solicitation and capture, pro-
ject appraisals, project and
loans management, analysis of
previous and current perfor-
mances (including risk situa-
tions) to make decisions
about future operations and
undertakings, taking into ac-
count global economic cir-
cumstances. The aforemen-
tioned requirements had to be
comprehensively covered by
the new system for the suc-
cess of the ADSF guided digiti-
zation efforts.
The new loan management
system will provides cutting-
edge functionality and loan
accounting support functions
powered by SAP NetWeaver
technology to manage the full
loan cycle and aggressively
improve loan processes. Now
the institution can design and
deliver new loan products
quickly, reduce loan manage-
ment costs and risks, and
improve customer service and
satisfaction.
Loan Management & Accounting
Record Archive and Storage
Proper storage of paper docu-
ments helps to manage paper
records effectively over time.
It ensures that the record will
survive and remain accessible
for as long as legally and statu-
tory required. The safe care
and custody of records ena-
bles the creation of official
records, thus documenting
the actions and decisions of
“Document
management is at
the heart of the day
-to-day operations
of OFID”
Miguel Linares
Senior Public Sector Officer
Page 4
Operations Digital
Evolution
Caption describing picture
or graphic.
Digitizing Operations Processes
Key Benefits
 seamless integration of loan accounting functions with
existing GL account, treasury operations and bank
communication manager.
 Reduction of loan cost, risk exposure and improve
lending processes.
 Customization of loan products and get to market
quickly including support for Islamic financing.
 Enhancement of customer service and satisfaction via
automated workflow.
 Reduction of operational cost and TCO in the long
term.
OFID’s staff, Management
and Board. It ensure that
those records which are
authorized for destruction
are managed efficiently, and
that records which have
significant on-going value
survives, and preserved as
archives with authorized
accessibility. Records by
their nature are unique and
irreplaceable, hence the need
for a central record archive
and storage. OFID’s paper
records are important busi-
ness assets which should be
managed carefully while miti-
gating the following risk asso-
ciated with poor storage:
- damaged & inability to find
record when required.

5. Another key sub-component
of the operations digital evolu-
tion is the enablement and
integration of an enterprise-
wide Electronic Document
Management System (EDMS).
The EDMS system aims to
manage content (documents
and all manner of saved rec-
ords) throughout their indi-
vidual life-cycles, from crea-
tion/acquisition to destruc-
tion. Initially, the EDMS sys-
tem will consider all docu-
ments as a work-in-progress
until they are reviewed, ap-
praised/approved, and poten-
tially saved or published
(internal & external) for for-
mal use. The final version of
the form that is saved contain-
ing all user meta-data will
become a formal record with-
in the institution with a legally
enforceable retention and
governance policies applied
(see figure 2 and 3 for more
information about retention
policy).
Key Benefits
 Management of information flows across OFID from incep-
tion through archiving and disposition.
 Application of dependable, consistent retention and govern-
ance policies across all content regardless of origin – be it
internal or external.
 Adaptation of information governance to the needs of all
users, building it into business processes and applications –
SAP, new MIS and EDMS.
 Provision of users with rapid and seamless access from any
device, or any location of the enterprise documents and
records.
 Incorporation of a common, documented and standard
content creation and management processes via enterprise
workspaces.
ONE OFID Document Management System
Business Partner Management
agement process model with
robust governance, risk and
compliance provisions and
safeguards was recommended
the team. The proposed mod-
el also provides a comprehen-
sive institutional coverage,
integration and automation
across the information tech-
nology application landscape
with fault tolerance specifica-
tions that are forward looking
and future-proof. The unique
selling point of this model is
the decoupling of business
partner data administration
A business partner is a com-
mercial entity with which
another entity has a business
relationship. A business part-
ner (vendors, borrowers, loan
administrators, sister institu-
tions, grant agencies, counter-
parties, banks, etc.) is there-
fore a contractual alliance
between two or more enti-
ties, which is a critical element
in maintaining the quality,
safety and soundness of insti-
tution’s records. The current
practice of departmentization
of business partner manage-
ment processes has raised
issues of segregation of duties
and other associated risk ex-
posures especially those con-
cerning business partner data
quality, credit rating and other
management reporting defi-
ciencies. Stemming from the
above challenges, a new cen-
tralized business partner man- Page 5
Volume 1, Issue 2
and management from all front
office activities in the various
operational departments/units
while guaranteeing a single-
source of institutional data and
reporting. This approach will
engender best practice in gov-
ernance as recommended by

6. Parkring 8
A1010
Vienna
AUSTRIA
Phone: +43-51564-142
Fax: +43-5139238
E-mail:j.edo@ofid.org
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-
centered, focusing on projects that meet basic needs - such as food, energy, clean water and sani-
tation, healthcare and education – with the aim of encouraging self-reliance and inspiring hope for
the future.
OFID
mandate while preparing for
the challenges of the coming
decades.
The use of technology to
improve performances or
reach of organizations will
continue to be a hot topic
across the globe. At OFID,
apart from the strategic focus
on ending poverty, digital
advances such as analytics,
mobility, the cloud, and social
media will continually play a
significant role in the institu-
tion’s daily work. The IT appli-
cation landscape will continue
to be optimized, although
transformed stakeholder ex-
periences are the most visible
When completed, the digitali-
zation efforts will reduce the
institution’s human and tech-
nical complexities, minimize
effort and operating cost,
while optimizing its benefits in
the medium to long term. The
new system will continue to
demonstrate the benefits and
operational efficiencies of
running a shared services
center of excellence, particu-
larly for the institution’s core
operation.
This phase is a necessary step
towards achieving an integrat-
ed technological infrastructure
and services needed to sup-
port the entire OFID stake-
holders’ community and deliv-
er significant improvement to
the attainment of its noble
and arguably the most exciting
part of the institution’s work,
other aspects of digital trans-
formation at OFID like pro-
cess digitization, worker ena-
blement and business process
re-engineering will continue.
Conclusion
Uniting against
Poverty
Caption describing picture
or graphic.
WWW.OFID.ORG
134
PARTNER
COUNTRIES
FOUNDED
1976
182
PEOPLE
$17
BILLION
ENERGY
POVERTY