European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently announced that they have loaned $100 million to the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) to support the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The loan will help Egypt’s SMEs to become energy efficient, mitigate climate change and will be used to introduce adaptation technologies, along with tightening climate corporate governance.
The loan will also allocate funds to SMEs operating in sectors like industry, commerce, and agriculture, which is expected to improve the use of energy, water, and land resources, along with investments in high-performing technologies, which, in turn, will boost Egypt’s economy. The Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) Technology Selector with also help to identify the typical green technologies available in Egypt
This marks the third loan provided to NBE by EBRD GEFF, and they will also benefit from the well-rounded technical corporation programme. As the largest commercial bank in Egypt, NBE began its alliance with EBRD in 2013. Apart from supporting the green projects, the alliance also includes credit and trade finance lines, supporting women entrepreneurs and youth-led businesses, and strengthening the country’s energy efficiency.
Egypt is also one of the founding members of EBRD and since the inception of its operations, the bank has invested more than €7.3 billion throughout 130 projects in the country. Last year, EBRD invested more than €1 billion in the Egyptian market and started a programme where they work with international financial institutions to provide the liquidity needed for the local banks, which will help them expand their financing to the private sector, including SMEs, which will support them financially during the crisis.
The bank allocated $800 million under this programme to the Egyptian banks for lending to SMEs, in an effort to help them navigate through the financial crisis brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.