{"id":75061,"date":"2022-12-01T02:08:48","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T02:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/climate\/2022\/12\/01\/today-raw-materials-from-morocco-and-algeria-to-aid-the-eus-green-plans-enterprise-climate-x-forum-is-less-than-a-week-away\/"},"modified":"2022-12-01T02:08:48","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T02:08:48","slug":"today-raw-materials-from-morocco-and-algeria-to-aid-the-eus-green-plans-enterprise-climate-x-forum-is-less-than-a-week-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/climate\/2022\/12\/01\/today-raw-materials-from-morocco-and-algeria-to-aid-the-eus-green-plans-enterprise-climate-x-forum-is-less-than-a-week-away\/","title":{"rendered":"TODAY: Raw materials from Morocco and Algeria to aid the EU\u2019s green plans + Enterprise Climate X Forum is less than a week away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people.<\/strong> With just five days left to go until the Enterprise Climate X Forum (more on that below), it\u2019s refreshing to see our region making big moves in the business of climate.<\/p>\n

Solar is the name of the game across the region this fine morning. <\/strong>The green hydrogen bonanza is (for a change) taking a break today, but other green energy sources are stepping in.<\/p>\n

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- Saudi\u2019s Al Shuaibah is getting a 2.06 GW solar plant, courtesy<\/strong> of Badeel and Acwa.<\/strong> Saudi Arabia\u2019s Water and Electricity Holding Company and developer Acwa Power signed a PPA for a 2.06 GW solar plant in Al Shuaibah. As things stand today, the facility is set to be the largest of its kind in the Middle East and when it comes online in 4Q 2025.<\/p>\n

In Egypt, AMEA Power has locked down USD 1.1 bn for its solar and wind projects in <\/strong>the<\/strong> country. <\/strong>The financing is being provided by several government players, development finance institutions, and commercial banks.<\/p>\n

ALSO- We sat down with climate czar Mahmoud Mohieldin for a post-COP27 debrief <\/strong>on the summit\u2019s achievements, how to build on the progress we\u2019ve recently seen on climate finance (a big win for Egypt in Sharm), and priorities in the run-up to COP28.<\/p>\n

^^We have chapter and verse on these stories and more in the news well, below. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- The European Union has agreed to add shipping to its carbon market for the first time. <\/strong>Shipping companies will soon be obligated to buy EU carbon permits to cover their emissions. And the bloc isn\u2019t messing around \u2014 it\u2019s phasing in the regulations very quickly: Shippers will need to cover 40% of their emissions starting in 2024, followed by 70% in 2025 and 100% in 2026, according to Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why this is really big: <\/strong>Transport and power generation are the industries with the heaviest carbon footprint, and shipping is particularly hard to regulate given much of the voyage takes place in international waters. The plan covers \u201call carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen dioxide emissions from maritime voyages within the EU\u201d and will include 50% of emissions for runs that start and end in the bloc.<\/p>\n

The EU announced a number of other climate-focused plans yesterday<\/strong>, including a proposal<\/a> paving the way for government-approved certification of carbon removal projects in areas like carbon capture and soil sequestration and another that aims<\/a> for all EU packaging to be recyclable by 2030 and for waste in the bloc to be slashed by 5% from a 2018 baseline. The proposals are getting plenty of attention in the international business press, including Reuters<\/a>, the Financial Times<\/a>, and Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> WATCH THIS SPACE #1- <\/strong>Contractors are scheduled to break ground on the <\/strong>Egypt-Saudi <\/strong>interconnection project<\/strong>, according to a report in the Egyptian press. The 3 GW electricity linkup is projected to go live in mid-2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Morocco and Algeria to supply the EU with<\/strong> energy-transition materials:<\/strong> The EU is planning to sign MoUs with Morocco and Algeria, in addition to several other African countries, to supply the bloc with raw materials for renewables projects, the EU said in a statement (pdf)<\/a> this week. The statement does not clarify when the agreements will be signed. This comes as part of the Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative, as the EU is mobilizing funding for clean energy projects across Africa in return for energy-transition minerals.<\/p>\n

WATCH THIS SPACE #3- The majority of Europe\u2019s corporate loans market will have ESG <\/strong>provisions in 2023<\/strong>, Bloomberg<\/a> reports. Bankers interviewed by the business information service say at least half of the loans for firms in Europe, MENA, and Africa will be tied to ESG targets in the coming year \u2014 up some 14% from 2022.<\/p>\n

What does this mean? <\/strong>\u200b\u200bFirms can lower their cost of borrowing if they meet pre-defined ESG performance targets such as reducing pollution, better waste management, hitting gender targets.<\/p>\n

WATCH THIS SPACE #4- Innovate Egypt plans to debut two types of EVs in the <\/strong>Egyptian market next year<\/strong>, including one resembling a tuktuk that can be used for short distances, and another for longer distances, Al Mal<\/a> quotes global satellite provider EgyptSat Chairman Mohamed El Ghamry as saying. Innovate Egypt has partnered up with an unnamed firm to begin producing electric vehicles before the end of the year, El Ghamry reportedly said. The vehicle will retail in the EGP 150-250k, he added.<\/p>\n

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PSA #<\/strong>1- UAE companies can now get an \u201cIslamic sustainable account\u201d <\/strong>from Standard Chartered<\/a>. The Shariah-compliant accounts will be used to fund sustainability projects, including renewables.<\/p>\n

PSA #2- Fancy a BMW EV? <\/strong>New distributor Global Auto Group<\/a> is gearing up to introduce BMWi EVs to the Egyptian market, EnterpriseAM<\/a> reports. The news comes the same week that BMW said it is launching the its i7 model in the UAE, as we\u2019ve previously noted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CORRECTION-<\/strong> We incorrectly wrote in yesterday\u2019s issue that Lekela is a unit of renewables player Infinity. Infinity and the Africa Finance Corporation have entered into a transaction<\/a> with private equity firm Actis<\/a> (which owns 60% of Lekela) and Irish wind \/ solar developer Mainstream Renewable Power<\/a> (40%) to acquire 100% of Lekela. The transaction is in progress. The story<\/a> has been corrected on our web edition.<\/p>\n

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enterprise<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a> Todd Wilcox<\/strong>, CEO and deputy chairman of HSBC Egypt,<\/strong> is joining us for the <\/strong>Enterprise Climate X Forum<\/a><\/strong>, taking place this coming Tuesday the Grand Egyptian Museum. Are you? <\/strong>We\u2019re proud to announce that our friend Todd Wilcox is going to be speaking at the forum on how banks and corporates are tackling financing for the most compelling industry of our generation. Joining him on stage will be our friends Tarek El Nahas<\/strong>, group head of international banking at Mashreq, and Nader Abushadi<\/strong>, group treasurer at Dar Group.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re <\/strong>not the only ones:<\/strong> Among the top execs, bankers, and development finance folks speaking at the conference are: Amr Allam<\/strong>, co-CEO of Hassan Allam Holding; Mohamed Ismail Mansour<\/strong>, co-founder and CEO of Infinity; Sherif El Kholy<\/strong>, partner and head of MENA at Actis; Khalid Hamza<\/strong>, director and head of Egypt at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Simon Kitchen<\/strong>, head of strategy at EFG Hermes Research; Karim Hussein<\/strong>, managing partner at Algebra Ventures; Aly El Tayeb<\/strong>, CEO and co-founder of ShiftEV; Jorgo Chatzimarkakis,<\/strong> CEO of Hydrogen Europe; Khaled Naguib<\/strong>, CEO of H2Egypt, and Leslie Reed<\/strong>, Mission director for Egypt, USAID.<\/p>\n

Topics and live interviews will include:<\/strong><\/p>\n