EE/RE Credit Facility for MENA Region - SEFF (BMCE)

completed

As part of a regional EU/NIF project to promote energy efficiency and renewable energies (EE/RE) in the MENA region, KfW, together with EIB, AfD and EBRD (lead), has granted loans totaling EUR 20 million to the Moroccan partner bank Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur (BMCE). KfW is contributing to the financing with a promotional loan of EUR 5 million with a term of 6 years. In addition to refinancing through loans, the European Commission is providing NIF funds of EUR 16.5 million for incentive payments to partner banks and final borrowers and the EBRD is providing a further EUR 4.5 million as a grant for accompanying consulting assignments (TA). The final loans are granted by BMCE at market conditions to SMEs, larger companies and private households, which use the funds to implement climate-relevant measures. It is planned that three quarters of the loan amount will go into energy efficiency and one quarter into renewable energies, which should achieve a reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions of at least 20% compared to the situation before the project. If final borrowers achieve the savings targets, they will receive a grant of 10-15% of the loan amount (from NIF funds). As part of the TA measures, the bank will be supported in building a project pipeline and developing and marketing new EE/RE loan products and corresponding monitoring systems. Energy audits will be used to measure the energy and CO2 savings of the investments. Customers will also be helped to prepare project applications. The FC measure corresponds to the goals of the country, which has already developed its own strategies for the energy sector. By 2020, the Moroccan government wants to increase the share of renewable energies in the energy mix to 42% and save 12% energy compared to 2008. The project thus makes an important contribution to achieving national and international climate goals.