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Tuesday, 17 August 2021

Yet more green finance from Europe

QNB Al Ahli lands a USD 50 mn loan for green projects: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and the European Union (EU) will loan QNB Al Ahli USD 50 mn to on-lend to Egypt-based green projects and individual households, EBRD said yesterday on its website. SMEs in diverse sectors such as residential, agribusiness, industrial, commercial and service sectors who are developing energy, water, and resource efficiency projects will receive funds, in a bid to help the transition to a greener economy by promoting the use of “high performance technologies.”

The GCF will provide USD 7.5 mn in concessional finance, while the EU will contribute up to EUR 5.1 mn (c. USD 6 mn) for incentive payments to successfully implemented green projects, in addition to providing up to EUR 6.2 mn (USD 7.3 mn) to fund technical assistance as well as policy dialogue.

QNB Al Ahli is the first Egyptian bank to receive financing under the EBRD’s second green economy financing facility (GEFF) in Egypt, part of the GCF-GEFF regional framework. This is the second green EBRD green loan we’ve heard about this month, with Ahli United Bank Egypt also in line for up to USD 22 mn from the European lender and the GCF for on-lending to green projects and SMEs in agribusiness, manufacturing and services, and IT.

The funding is the latest in a series of green loans to Egyptian banks from the EBRD under its GCF-GEFF framework, including USD 25 mn to National Bank of Kuwait Egypt, approved in April, as well as USD 100 mn for the National Bank of Egypt for on-lending to green projects, announced in June — the third such loan the state bank has received through the GEFF.

Want to know all about EBRD’s plans for a greener Egyptian economy? We recently sat down with EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso + Southern and Easten Mediterranean Managing Director Heike Harmgart to talk about all things green economy in Egypt.

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