The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), together with the Green Climate Fund and European Union, is providing a US$50mn financing package to Egypt’s Suez Canal Bank.
EBRD announced on September 8 it is increasing the Cairo-headquartered lender’s limit under its Trade Facilitation Programme by US$25mn, to be used for guarantees and cash advances.
The institution says the funds will help increase the volume of trade finance offered by Suez Canal Bank, while growing its product range, boosting imports and exports, and expanding correspondent banking services.
As part of the package, Suez Canal Bank receives an additional US$25mn loan under the EBRD’s Green Economy Financing Facility.
US$3.75mn of the loan is co-financed by the Green Climate Fund – a South Korea-headquartered international fund created in 2010 under the UN’s climate change framework that first partnered with EBRD in 2017.
The Green Climate Fund’s portion is to be on-lent to households and small businesses that are investing in climate adaptation technologies, EBRD says.
As part of the programme, the European Union has agreed to provide technical assistance on project preparation, implementation and monitoring.
It is also providing up to US$2.9mn in grants to help borrowers with the cost of technological improvements, and to reward sub-borrowers that complete projects successfully.
Suez Canal Bank will also benefit from capacity-building in trade finance, including on structuring, compliance and risk monitoring, EBRD says.
London-headquartered EBRD has invested nearly US$14bn in Egypt since beginning operations in the country in 2012, covering more than 200 projects. Its current Egypt portfolio totals around US$5bn, website data shows.
