A Gulf Arab non-governmental organisation, led by the father of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed, plans to set up a bank for the poor in West Africa.

The Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organisations (AGFUND) made the announcement after its head, Prince Talal bin Abdul-Aziz, met Sierra Leone's Trade and Industry Minister Alimamy Koroma and officials from the African lender Ecobank in Riyadh,  the Saudi state news agency reported.

The planned bank will be based in Sierra Leone and will be established in cooperation with Ecobank to boost small and micro entrepreneurs, SPA added without elaborating.

Officials at AGFUND could not be reached immediately to comment.

Prince Talal launched AGFUND in 1980 with the support of countries in the Gulf Arab region, the world's largest oil exporting area.

Up to 2006, the organisation has spent about $235 million in financing projects in 131 countries, its website said.

Prince Alwaleed is a former investor in Ecobank. - Reuters