LONDON — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Saturday approved investment of €1.0 billion for expansion into North Africa and the Middle East under its first British president.

After years concentrating mainly on investment in private-sector firms across the former Soviet bloc, the EBRD said it was extending its reach in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings.

It is planning an initial investment equivalent to $1.28 billion in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan, although it stressed that it would continue to seek to support growth in Eastern Europe amid the eurozone crisis.

The announcement came on the final day of the EBRD’s annual meeting in London and after the bank Friday selected top British civil servant Suma Chakrabarti as its president until 2016.

Chakrabarti replaced Thomas Mirow from Germany in a surprise result.

A statement issued ahead of the conference said: "The EBRD’s shareholders agreed on Saturday to the creation of a €1 billion special fund to start investments in emerging Arab democracies in response to the wave of political change in parts of the Middle East and north Africa."

"The fund is being financed out of the Bank’s reserves and will allow the Bank to start operations as a prelude to full-scale investment in the new region after an extension of the EBRD’s geographic remit has been ratified."

It added in a statement: "The EBRD is planning to invest specifically in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan. It has opened preliminary offices in all four of these countries, appointed a managing director for the region and hired additional staff with regional experience."

The EBRD said it would focus on the development of the private sector in those countries, fostering the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, with the first projects likely to be concluded around September.

"The bank expects to be able to eventually invest up to €2.5 billion a year in the new region, while not detracting from investments in its existing countries of operations, where funding totaled 9.1 billion euros in 2011," it added.

The EBRD meanwhile said at the start of its meeting Friday that the eurozone debt crisis would slash growth this year across its current and future "transition" countries of operation.

It forecast growth of 3.1 percent this year across a region that comprises 33 countries, including the four Arab nations plus Turkey and Mongolia — down sharply from 4.6 percent in 2011.

The bank’s shareholders comprise 63 governments plus the EU and the EIB. — AFP