Société Générale Maroc has obtained a grant from the EBRD to finance green projects promoted by Moroccan SMEs. The loan granted amounts to €20 million.
Société Générale Maroc intends to support green projects led by local SMEs to increase the Moroccan value chain. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has just provided €20 million in financial support for this purpose. The loan agreement was signed on Thursday, May 30, 2019 in Casablanca between the EBRD’s Director in Morocco, Marie Alexandra Veilleux-Laborie, and the Chairman of the Executive Board of Société Générale Maroc, Ahmed El Yacoubi.
The SMEs selected for the programme will benefit from support that includes project financing, investment grants and technical support to optimise the viability and sustainability of their projects. The authors of this initiative hope to provide these SMEs with green equipment that will enable them to market better quality products that are more competitive on local and international markets.
The funding is the result of a partnership established between the two parties since 2012 to pool efforts to support the financing of green investments. The credit line provided to Société Générale received financial support from the European Union, which contributed €2 million, and from the Green Climate Fund. It is part of the EBRD’s programme to strengthen the integration of SMEs into global value chains.
Since the beginning of its operations in Morocco, the EBRD has already invested about €1.8 billion to finance 52 projects, including several projects on the green economy. In April 2019, it granted a €5 million loan to BMCE Bank of Africa to finance the green economy. In February of the same year, the Bank also granted a €20 million loan to the Moroccan Bank of Commerce and Industry (BMCI), again with the aim of supporting green private investment in the country.
Luchelle Feukeng
