Washington, Muharram 12, 1436, November 05, 2014, SPA -- The private sector arm of the World Bank Wednesday pledged $450 million to support trade, investment, and employment in the West African countries worst-affected by the Ebola outbreak. The International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) announcement brings total World Bank commitments to fight the deadly virus to almost $1 billion in the past three months. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has led the bank’s response to Ebola, which has killed nearly 5,000 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. Roughly $250 million will go towards rapid response projects, providing support to small and medium-sized businesses in the region, including $75 million in emergency liquidity for six banks with which IFC already works. The remaining $200 million is committed for projects to support the countries’ recovery after the epidemic, IFC said. The World Bank had previously pledged $500 million for countries hit by the epidemic, and warned Ebola could sap more than $32 billion from West Africa by the end of 2015 if it spreads beyond Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. --SPA 22:47 LOCAL TIME 19:47 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w