The Moroccan banking group is accredited by the United Nations Green Climate Fund. In addition to an impressive “package” of wind power projects that it has financed on its own land, Attijariwafa bank supports wind, solar and sustainable agriculture programs in several African countries. Fatmi SQUALLI, Group Project Financing Director at Corporate & Investment Banking at Attijariwafa bank, explains the group’s strategy.
How to assess the risk of a project according to its exposure to climate change?
The Attijariwafa bank group is aware of the social and environmental challenges that arise at national and regional level and aims to meet them by placing responsible finance at the heart of its strategy. To do this, we are actively committed to supporting the energy transition and sustainable development in Morocco and in all of our markets in Africa. We are also heavily involved in the application of Bank Al-Maghrib’s roadmap for the alignment of the Moroccan financial sector with sustainable development and the directives of the Central Bank, in particular directive 5/W/2021, relating to the system financial risk management related to climate change. In addition, several actions have been launched by the Group over the past 5 years to accelerate support for green projects, improve social and environmental risk management systems, and better assess the risks of projects and companies according to their exposure to climate change. It is within the framework of these efforts that the Attijariwafa bank group obtained accreditation to the United Nations Green Climate Fund (“GCF”) following an important process of technical due diligence and capacity building. project appraisal. In addition, the group conducts a CSR policy for the benefit of all of its stakeholders with an approach that revolves around 4 axes and 10 strategic commitments. The group’s environmental approach has the dual objective of reducing its direct impacts, namely the environmental footprint linked to its immediate activity as well as those linked to its financing. In addition, the group has a committed financing policy in favor of a green economy and the energy transition of companies.
How high are your commitments in “green projects” and what are the selectivity criteria applied by the bank?
As a pan-African group, Attijariwafa bank has demonstrated its commitment to supporting the energy transition and sustainable development in Africa through the financing of several structuring green projects in the sectors of renewable energies, water, public sanitation services, waste management and environmental preservation. In terms of energy transition, we have contributed to the financing of major electricity production projects from renewable energies with more than 1,900 MW of wind and hydroelectric projects financed, including 1,300 MW in Morocco, citing for example: The financing of 700 MW wind projects led by Société Energie Eolienne du Maroc, a subsidiary of Nareva; the financing of large wind farms developed by the operators Enel and Engie, in particular the wind farms of Boujdour (300 MW) and Tarfaya (300 MW) and the financing of the hydroelectric development of Nachtigal in Cameroon of 420 MW developed by Nachtigal Hydro Power Company and co-financed by international donors and local banks. Overall, renewable energies represent 25% of the group’s project portfolio. Thus, the Attijariwafa bank group will continue to increase the share of renewable energies in the financed electricity mix, particularly in the context of future solar, wind and hydroelectric projects in Morocco and in the countries where we are present.
In terms of sustainable development, the Attijariwafa bank group is continuing its efforts to support actions to combat climate change through more than 4 billion dirhams in financing green projects. These are landfill and waste recovery center projects, drinking water supply and sanitation projects, and depollution projects in Morocco and in the countries where we are present.
We also monitor the development of climate change mitigation projects, in the renewable energy, energy efficiency, transport and waste management sub-sectors. We are also aware of Morocco’s efforts to adapt to climate change, particularly for priority water and seawater desalination projects on which we are positioned to contribute to their implementation.
In addition, the Attijariwafa bank group has included territorial development as a strategic initiative for the years to come. Indeed, we are currently working on the structuring of financing to support the economic and sustainable development of a Region in Morocco. This approach aims for a pioneering positioning since it is the first financing of a local authority which will be provided by a Moroccan commercial bank.
Have you issued green bonds on the international market? If so, what are their characteristics?
As part of supporting the Kingdom’s energy transition efforts, the Attijariwafa bank group contributed to the raising of the first green bond in Morocco. This is Masen’s “Green Bond” raised in 2016 for a total amount of 1.15 billion dirhams to finance the solar projects of Noor Laayoune, Noor Boujdour and Noor Ouarzazate IV. The group acted as an advisory bank in the context of this unprecedented transaction.
Thus, through the diversification of financial instruments, the Group will continue to support Morocco’s efforts to combat climate change in order to achieve the objectives of the National Energy Strategy.
Attijariwafa bank is one of the referents of the UN Climate Fund in Africa. What is your initial assessment of your activity and what major projects have you financed on the Continent?
The Attijariwafa bank group initiated the accreditation process for the largest fund dedicated to climate finance in the world following COP 22 held in Marrakech in 2016. After a technical due-diligence process of more than 4 years, the Attijariwafa bank group has become the 1st commercial bank in Africa and the MENA region, as well as the 7th worldwide to have obtained accreditation to the United Nations Green Climate Fund (Green Climate Fund “GCF”) . Through this regional accreditation, which covers all of our countries of presence, we are able to provide innovative financing solutions, in particular for sustainable development projects with a strong socio-economic impact.
Following the signing of the framework partnership agreement with the GCF in October 2020, we have developed an initial portfolio of more than 20 green financing programs in several sectors and at the level of several countries of presence. In Morocco, we are in advanced discussions for energy efficiency programs for local authorities, decarbonization of industry, and for the adaptation of territories to climate change, in particular for the water sector and the resilience of infrastructure.
Internationally, we are developing wind and solar programs and sustainable agriculture programs in several countries in North Africa, West Africa and Central Africa. Thus, Attijariwafa bank will continue to provide its accreditation to the GCF for the benefit of the sustainable development agenda of Morocco and the countries where the group is present, in particular in response to the climate priorities listed at the national level.
