Egypt's financial regulatory body launches dialogue on green bond guidelines

CAIRO- 27 June 2018: Chairman the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) of Egypt Mohamed Omran opened on Wednesday a session of consultations over guidelines to foster the development of the country’s green bond market.

The session is called for by the FRA in coordination with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), investment funds, the Egyptian Exchange, banks, credit agencies and Egyptian insurance companies.

“Our partnership with IFC helped us provide the necessary information to both issuers and investors, providing a comprehensive reference guide for the market to develop a new financial tool to support green growth in Egypt,” Omran said. “This is also in line with our strategy to develop new financial instruments within the Egyptian market over the next four years.”

A green bond is like a normal bond, but with an additional commitment to deploying its funds to projects that address key areas of environmental concern like climate change, natural resources depletion, loss of biodiversity and air, water or soil pollution.

Omran said green bonds are one of the economic tools used by governments seeking to divert to environment-friendly economy.

The global green bond market has taken off in recent years to total $155 billion in 2017, a 78 percent increase from the previous year. Since 2005, IFC has invested $18.3 billion in long-term financing from its own account and mobilized another $11 billion through partnerships with investors for climate-related projects in areas like renewable power, energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, green buildings, waste, and supporting private sector adaptation to climate change.