Lebanese bank offers $200 million for green energy projects

Bank Audi said it will offer $200 million in financing for green energy projects. Ventures to be funded include projects that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency.

Financing will be funded by a $90 million loan obtained from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a concessional facility worth $10 million from the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF). The remaining $100 million will be financed from Bank Audi’s resources.

TaiwanICDF is a Taiwanese government-funded agency that provides foreign development assistance.

A team of specialized consultants supported by the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund will help develop the projects. The team includes engineering, environmental, financial and marketing experts. They will offer Bank Audi and its clients, direct support and advice throughout a project’s lifecycle.

“This Green Economy Financing Facility to Bank Audi is the first offered to a commercial bank in Lebanon and the largest ever granted to a single bank in the region,” said Gretchen Biery, Head of EBRD’s Lebanon Resident Office. “We are very keen to work with other banks in the future as well.”

With the new facility to Bank Audi, EBRD’s investments in its first year of operation on the local market reach $300 million, Biery said. These investments include credit facilities provided to Fransabank and SGBL in addition to the equity that EBRD took in Bank Audi earlier this year.

At the CEDRE conference, EBRD committed a financing of €1.1 billion ($1.26 billion) over six years for the infrastructure projects that are part of the government’s Capital Investment Plan, and for other areas such as the financial sector and renewable energy.