Green SME-led projects to receive funding from IsDB: Al Baraka Bank Egypt will receive USD 30 mn in sharia-compliant funding from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) for on-lending to green projects, the bank said yesterday. The five-year financing agreement was signed with the IsDB’s private-sector development arm during its annual meetings last week, Al Baraka said in a statement. The funding will specifically target private-sector SMEs that are embarking on green and sustainable projects, Al Baraka Egypt CEO Hazem Hegazi told us.

More could be coming: The agreement with the lender could allow the funding to be increased in the future, the bank said.

The IsDB has a long history in Egypt: The lender has provided around USD 18.6 bn of financing to projects in Egypt since its founding in the early 1970s, according to its website. Almost 380 projects have received funding over the period, 46 of which are ongoing.

More than half a bn USD of new funding: During the meetings, the IsDB approved more than USD 558 mn in new funding for six projects that promote sustainability, inclusive growth, and infrastructure development in the bank’s member countries.

ITALY DEBT-SWAP EXTENSION-

The USD 100 mn third phase of Egypt’s debt swap arrangement with Italy could be extended to December 2024, after International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat and Italian Ambassador to Egypt Michele Quaroni signed letters of intent yesterday, according to a ministry statement. The extension seeks to ensure the completion of all projects under the program’s third phase, whose 11-year term was initially scheduled to end this month.

Debt swap? The agreement allows Egypt to channel debts owed to the Italian government into development projects instead of paying them back. The third phase supports initiatives in a number of priority sectors, including food security, waste management, the environment, and education.

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