The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) could be extending another $100 million to Egypt to aid its efforts in accelerating climate action efforts in the country.

Approval of the loan is expected to be announced on December 15.

The loan, possibly provided to Banque Misr, would be used to finance investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies across the industrial, commercial, transport and agricultural sectors in the Egyptian market, explained EBRD.

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To be distributed to the local private sector, the loan will be used to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in line with the standards and reporting requirements for the bank’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) in Egypt, according to the EBRD.

Established by the EBRD, GEFF aims to help Egyptian businesses invest in high-performing technologies by providing financing through local participating financial institutions.

“The project will be supported by a comprehensive technical cooperation programme to provide implementation support to BM, its customers and verification of the outcome of completed projects”, said the EBRD.

By early February, the EBRD is expected to approve its new country strategy for Egypt through 2026, the EBRD’s vice president Alain Pilloux told Al-Ahram Weekly in an interview during the official visit he paid to the country in October.

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One of EBRD’s founding members, Egypt became EBRD’s largest country of operations for the third year in a row in 2020, with the bank’s investments accounting for more than € 1 billion of the € 2.13 billion of the total development financing provided to the region’s countries.

The total Egypt-EBRD portfolio exceeds $4.6 billion covering 127 operations, with 80 percent headed to the country’s private sector.