The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Alexbank, a bank of Intesa Sanpaolo group, on Tuesday announced a new tranche of $15m renewable and efficiency financing initiative signed under the Egypt-Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF), aimed at accelerating the economic modernisation and the environmental sustainability through targeted green investment by Egyptian businesses.
The targeted business financing scheme was formally announced on the sideline 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; Rania Al-Mashat, the Minister of International Cooperation, who participated through the video conference; Christian Berger, the ambassador of the EU Delegation; Håkan Emsgård, the Swedish ambassador; Mathew 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.
Rania Al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, said that the new financing scheme with Alexbank boosts SMEs financing 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 European Investment Bank to promote the 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 ESG principles.
“The EIB 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, Vice President of the EIB.
“Alexbank recognises the crucial need to safeguard the environment, the reason for which investing in renewable and more energy efficient solutions is of paramount importance for Egyptian companies. This cooperation with the EIB 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 $15m EIB framework loan agreed with Alexbank is part of the broader GEFF that provides financing for business investment through local financial partners.
The initiative to enable companies across Egypt to increase 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 Neighbourhood Investment Facility grant to incentivise uptake, and provide technical assistance to support identification, evaluation, and monitoring of eligible investment projects.
