Morocco Hosts Meeting on Green Finance in Africa
Moroccan city of Casablanca is hosting this October 12 an international conference to look into ways of creating “Green Banking Markets in Africa”, ahead of the 22nd UN conference on climate change due in Marrakech Nov.7-18.
The Casablanca green finance event is organized by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur (BMCE).
The gathering will bring together representatives from regulatory authorities and commercial banks, particularly those from African countries, as well as from development finance institutions and donors.
It will highlight climate initiatives by different players in the financial sector to support greener economies with a focus on Africa. It will also explore the role of regulatory authorities in facilitating an environment conducive to the growth of a green economy and the use of green financial products.
The conference will review the role of commercial financial institutions in growing green finance and how development finance institutions can support them in this work.
A number of financial institutions will highlight how they have integrated green finance into their business operations. During this conference, EBRD will share its expertise in attracting private finance to the global climate challenge with banks from across Africa.
The event will be an opportunity to demonstrate a unique EBRD climate finance model – its Sustainable Energy Financing Facilities (SEFFs) that have already been successfully introduced into 24 EBRD countries.
The EBRD invests to support the transition to market economies in 36 countries spanning three continents – from Mongolia in Central Asia to Morocco on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, from Estonia on the Baltic to Egypt on the Mediterranean.
During the Casablanca conference, the EBRD and BMCE will sign their third agreement under MorSEFF, a version of the SEFF facility specifically tailored to conditions in Morocco.
With SEFFs, the EBRD makes loans to partner banks in its countries of operations, which then on-lend funds to clients investing in efficient and renewable energy programs.
“Ahead of important international climate talks in Africa next month, this is a perfect opportunity to highlight the potential to put private sector finance to work to address some of the climate challenges across the African continent,” said EBRD Managing Director for Energy Efficiency and Climate Change, Josué Tanaka.
The EBRD invests directly in three African countries, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. However, banks from sub-Saharan Africa, interested in using the SEFF financing model in their own countries, will be able to hear from experts and practitioners.
