TODAY: Raw materials from Morocco and Algeria to aid the EU’s green plans + Enterprise Climate X Forum is less than a week away
Good morning, wonderful people. With just five days left to go until the Enterprise Climate X Forum (more on that below), it’s refreshing to see our region making big moves in the business of climate.
Solar is the name of the game across the region this fine morning. The green hydrogen bonanza is (for a change) taking a break today, but other green energy sources are stepping in.
THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- Saudi’s Al Shuaibah is getting a 2.06 GW solar plant, courtesy of Badeel and Acwa. Saudi Arabia’s 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.
In Egypt, AMEA Power has locked down USD 1.1 bn for its solar and wind projects in the country. The financing is being provided by several government players, development finance institutions, and commercial banks.
ALSO- We sat down with climate czar Mahmoud Mohieldin for a post-COP27 debrief on the summit’s achievements, how to build on the progress we’ve recently seen on climate finance (a big win for Egypt in Sharm), and priorities in the run-up to COP28.
^^We have chapter and verse on these stories and more in the news well, below.
THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- The European Union has agreed to add shipping to its carbon market for the first time. Shipping companies will soon be obligated to buy EU carbon permits to cover their emissions. And the bloc isn’t messing around — it’s 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.
Why this is really big: 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 “all carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen dioxide emissions from maritime voyages within the EU” and will include 50% of emissions for runs that start and end in the bloc.
The EU announced a number of other climate-focused plans yesterday, including a proposal paving the way for government-approved certification of carbon removal projects in areas like carbon capture and soil sequestration and another that aims 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, the Financial Times, and Bloomberg.
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WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Contractors are scheduled to break ground on the Egypt-Saudi interconnection project, according to a report in the Egyptian press. The 3 GW electricity linkup is projected to go live in mid-2025.
WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Morocco and Algeria to supply the EU with energy-transition materials: 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) 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.
WATCH THIS SPACE #3- The majority of Europe’s corporate loans market will have ESG provisions in 2023, Bloomberg 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 — up some 14% from 2022.
What does this mean? Firms can lower their cost of borrowing if they meet pre-defined ESG performance targets such as reducing pollution, better waste management, hitting gender targets.
WATCH THIS SPACE #4- Innovate Egypt plans to debut two types of EVs in the Egyptian market next year, including one resembling a tuktuk that can be used for short distances, and another for longer distances, Al Mal 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.
PSA #1- UAE companies can now get an “Islamic sustainable account” from Standard Chartered. The Shariah-compliant accounts will be used to fund sustainability projects, including renewables.
PSA #2- Fancy a BMW EV? New distributor Global Auto Group is gearing up to introduce BMWi EVs to the Egyptian market, EnterpriseAM reports. The news comes the same week that BMW said it is launching the its i7 model in the UAE, as we’ve previously noted.
CORRECTION- We incorrectly wrote in yesterday’s issue that Lekela is a unit of renewables player Infinity. Infinity and the Africa Finance Corporation have entered into a transaction with private equity firm Actis (which owns 60% of Lekela) and Irish wind / solar developer Mainstream Renewable Power (40%) to acquire 100% of Lekela. The transaction is in progress. The story has been corrected on our web edition.
Todd Wilcox, CEO and deputy chairman of HSBC Egypt, is joining us for the Enterprise Climate X Forum, taking place this coming Tuesday the Grand Egyptian Museum. Are you? We’re 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, group head of international banking at Mashreq, and Nader Abushadi, group treasurer at Dar Group.
They’re not the only ones: Among the top execs, bankers, and development finance folks speaking at the conference are: Amr Allam, co-CEO of Hassan Allam Holding; Mohamed Ismail Mansour, co-founder and CEO of Infinity; Sherif El Kholy, partner and head of MENA at Actis; Khalid Hamza, director and head of Egypt at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Simon Kitchen, head of strategy at EFG Hermes Research; Karim Hussein, managing partner at Algebra Ventures; Aly El Tayeb, CEO and co-founder of ShiftEV; Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe; Khaled Naguib, CEO of H2Egypt, and Leslie Reed, Mission director for Egypt, USAID.
Topics and live interviews will include:
- What are green hydrogen and NWFE? Why do they matter to businesses, banks and investors?
- How are CEOs across global emerging markets are dealing with (and being constrained by) climate change?
- What’s keeping bankers awake at night when it comes to climate finance?
- Meet the startup and VC in line to be Egypt’s first climate b’naires.
For the full agenda please click here.
** Have you confirmed your attendance? We’ll be sending you on Sunday, 4 December the QR code you’ll need to gain admission to the Grand Egyptian Museum, along with a Google Maps link and some other pointers — including a reminder that the event takes place under Chatham House Rules. Only confirmed invitees who can present their personal QR codes will be able to gain admission to the GEM on event day.
HAPPENING TODAY–
THE WORLD CUP TODAY- It’s day 12 of the tournament, and Group E and F teams are facing off again (all times CLT):
- Croatia v Belgium (5pm)
- Canada v Morocco (5pm)
- Japan v Spain (9pm)
- Costa Rica v Germany (9pm)
CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
Oman will host a two-day green hydrogen summit next Monday, 5 December, at Oman’s Convention and Exhibition Center in Muscat. The summit will discuss all aspects of the hydrogen value chain including production, transportation, and storage challenges.
Rwanda is hosting the World Circular Economy Forum from Tuesday, 6 December to 8 December in Kigali. The forum — taking place in Africa for the first time — will shed light on how the circular economy can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support climate change adaptation, and protect the planet’s biodiversity.
UAE will host the Big 5 global construction impact summit next Wednesday, 7 December at the Dubai World Trade Center, bringing more than 2k exhibitors from 60 countries, as well as regional and global construction industry leaders together to discuss ways to meet local and global net zero and waste reduction targets.
FURTHER DOWN THE LINE- Dubai will be host to the food and sustainability Middle East challenge on 2 March, 2023. The Rome-based European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability is partnering with SDG Global to bring a six-month long, online interactive course to align the region’s food industry with ESG sustainability and development targets. You can register interest in the for-pay course here.
Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.
IMAGE OF THE DAY- MENA and Africa are far from being the world’s biggest CO2 pains: The graphic map uses carbon emissions data collected by the European Commission in 2018 to visualize population centers, flight paths, shipping lanes, and high production areas. The Middle East and North Africa show bright spots around Egypt, Israel, Morocco and the Suez Canal — indicating emissions from population and shipping centers — but it is China, India, the US, Central America and Europe — with Germany and Italy standing out — that light up the brightest when it comes to emissions.