EBRD, GCF, EU provide €25 m to boost Morocco’s green transition

16 / 02 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), supported by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and the European Union (EU), is providing a financial package of up to €25 million to Société Générale Maroc to boost Morocco’s green transition.

Société Générale Maroc will lend on the financing ‒ €23.75 million of which is being provided by the EBRD and €1.25 million of which by the GCF ‒ in the form of sub-loans to local citizens, micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and other companies for investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies.

The signing ceremony took place in Casablanca during the EU-Africa Business Forum 2022, which was held on the margins of the European Union – African Union Summit, in the presence of Heike Harmgart, EBRD Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region, Antoine Sallé de Chou, EBRD Head of Morocco, Jean-Christophe Filori, Head of Cooperation of the EU in Morocco and Ahmed El Yacoubi, President of the Board of Société Générale Maroc.

The new EBRD financing comes under the Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) in Morocco, which is supported by the GCF. It is the second green facility provided by the EBRD to Société Générale Maroc.

A comprehensive technical capacity package, complemented by investment incentives and funded by the EBRD, the GCF and the European Union (EU), will support Société Générale Maroc in implementing the program.

The program also aims to impart knowledge on and raise awareness of climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies among retail clients, MSMEs and corporates, as well as to provide project appraisal support and guide sub-borrowers to the optimal technology choices.

As part of the package, Société Générale Maroc will also participate in activities aimed at enhancing gender equality, such as a “train-the-trainers” program on gender-responsive green finance, to help address gender-specific supply-and-demand obstacles.

Operating in Morocco since 1913, Société Générale Maroc is part of the Société Générale Group and a major participant in the development of the Moroccan economy.

Morocco is a founding member of the EBRD and became an investee economy in 2012. To date, the EBRD has invested close to €3.2 billion in the country through 80 projects.