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Egyptian companies to benefit from $15 m EIB-ALEXBANK renewable & efficiency financing initiative
Egyptian companies will benefit from a $ 25 million renewable and efficiency financing initiative of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and ALEXBANK, a bank of Intesa Sanpaolo group, which is the first cooperation between the two organizations.
The two banks made public the new tranche of the initiative signed under the Egypt-Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) initiative, aimed at accelerating the economic modernization and the environmental sustainability through targeted green investment by Egyptian businesses.
The targeted business financing scheme has been formally announced on the sidelines of the “Europe – Egypt Energy connectivity Event” in the Embassy of Sweden in Cairo by Tarek El-Molla, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Dr. Rania Mashat, the Minister of International Cooperation who participated through video conference, Christian Berger, the ambassador of the EU Delegation, Håkan Emsgård the Swedish ambassador, Matthew Baldwin, the Deputy Director of the EU Commission, Gelsomina Vigliotti, Vice President of the European Investment Bank, and Dante Campioni, Managing Director and CEO of ALEXBANK, in addition to other business leaders.
Dr. Rania Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, expressed appreciation for the continuous cooperation with the European Investment Bank to support the private sector in Egypt and expand its participation in the development process.
She added that the new financing scheme with ALEXBANK boosts financing of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to enhance the efficiency and investments of renewable energy in industrial, commercial, and agricultural sectors. This comes in light of the framework agreement signed between the government and EIB to promote development cooperation that aims to create job opportunities and provide innovative solutions to achieve the country’s development goals and a larger role for the private sector.
She also stressed on the crucial importance of these funds, due to their importance in accelerating the private sector’s adoption to the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles.
“The European Investment Bank works with leading banks around the world to accelerate investment that cuts carbon emissions and harnesses renewable energy. This new partnership with ALEXBANK will enable Egyptian businesses to embrace green energy, cut energy bills and contribute to climate action.The new initiative also supports both Egypt’s 2030 sustainable development strategy and the recently launched industrial development strategy,” said Gelsomina Vigliotti, EIB Vice President.
“ALEXBANK recognizes the crucial need to safeguard the environment, a reason for which investing in renewable and more energy efficient solutions, is of paramount importance for Egyptian companies. This cooperation with the European Investment Bank reflects our shared goals in ESG targets, which includes, amongst the other, sustainable energy availability, the access to solutions tackling climate change issues and financial inclusion, while supporting industrial investments with very attractive financing solutions.” said Dante Campioni, Managing Director and CEO of ALEXBANK.
The new $ 15 million EIB framework loan agreed with ALEXBANK, is part of the broader GEFF that provides financing for business investment through local financial partners.
The initiative aims to enable companies across Egypt to boost investment to reduce energy and water consumption, improve product quality and increase competitiveness, as unveiled at the Egypt – Europe Energy Interconnectivity dialogue, bringing together Egyptian and international business partners to see how to address challenges related to the global energy crisis and climate change.
In Egypt, the GEFF initiative provides both finance and best-practice advice to help private sector business to improve competitiveness.
The new financing scheme, jointly backed by the EBRD, is supported by the European Union through a Neighborhood Investment Facility grant to incentivise uptake, and provide technical assistance to support identification, evaluation, and monitoring of eligible investment projects. The first cooperation will further help overcome insufficient renewable energy investment volumes through a dedicated focus on green investment, TA to develop and accelerate these investments.
The GEFF initiative has been designed to contribute to delivering SDG 7, universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services, SDG 12, sustainable consumption and production and SDG 13, urgent action to combat climate change and its impact.
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