Launch of first carbon fund in Morocco
- Launch of the first carbon fund in Morocco: Fonds Capital Carbone Maroc (FCCM).
- Signature of the shareholders' agreement between Morocco's Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion, the European Investment Bank and France's Caisse des Dépôts.
On Friday 5 December 2008, Mr Mustapha BAKKOURY, Managing Director of CDG, Mr Philippe de FONTAINE VIVE, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in charge of Mediterranean activities, and Mr Pierre DUCRET, Director of Banking Services at Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) in charge of sustainable development, launched and signed the shareholders' agreement of Fonds Capital Carbone Maroc (FCCM).
Created on the initiative of Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion and managed by Accès Capital Atlantique S.A. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the CDG Group specialising in investment fund management), Fonds Capital Carbone Maroc is the first fund in French-speaking Africa specially dedicated to carbon finance in Morocco, with a target size of MAD 300m (around EUR 26.5m).
FCCM's remit is to promote and participate in the development of Moroccan projects connected with the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
The CDM is a financial instrument enabling carbon credit-generating projects to re-sell these credits on the international carbon market, thereby creating an additional source of finance.
FCCM will support Moroccan promoters in implementing their CDM projects by acquiring their carbon credits over the period 2008-2017. It will operate in the renewable energy, energy efficiency, waste management, and afforestation and reforestation sectors.
Holding on to 50% of FCCM's capital, CDG invited CDC and the EIB to join its initiative, each taking a stake of 25%. The EIB's investment, and the technical assistance to be provided, are financed from the European Union's budgetary resources under the European Neighbourhood Policy. The Fund will benefit from the expertise of international carbon specialists, who will assist the management team during the first year of operations and help it to implement best international standards in the sector.
The signatories emphasised the innovative character of this sustainable development partnership, which exploits their shared identity as long-term investors and continues their history of numerous collaborations.
This signing ceremony was attended by representatives of the Ministry for Energy and Mines, Office National de l'Electricité, Office Chérifien des Phosphates, FCCM and numerous partners in this sector.
About Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion
Purpose and objective
Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion is a financial institution established in the form of a public agency by the Dahir (King's decree) of 10 February 1959. Its main remit is to receive, keep and manage savings which, by their very nature or source, require special protection.The CDG Group is involved in Morocco's key infrastructure projects and is now the Kingdom's leading institutional investor and a major player in the national economy.
Its objective is to contribute actively to the country's economic and social development.
The core business areas of the CDG Group
- Institutional Fund & Pension Fund Management
- Banking, Finance and Insurance
- Local and Regional Development
Key figures for 2007
- Deposits: MAD 40.5bn
- Net profit: MAD 4 104m
- Total consolidated balance sheet: MAD 90.4bn
- Consolidated net profit: MAD 6.2bn
Caisse des Dépôts is a long-term investor serving the public interest and France's economic development. It has important public interest remits: management of savings, deposits, escrow deposits and pension schemes, financing of social housing.
With its 2020 Élan Plan, sustainable development has become a strategic priority, broken down into three areas: sustainable property and cities, environmental innovation and responsible investment. It aims to help, through its financing and services solutions, to speed up the transition to a sustainable growth model and a low-carbon economy.
As part of the action to combat climate change, Caisse des Dépôts is playing a pioneering role in three areas of carbon finance: research on the carbon economy, market technologies and services that facilitate trade, and investment in carbon assets.
A long-standing partner of Morocco's Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion, with which it entered into a new cooperation agreement in April 2008, Caisse des Dépôts is also committed to the success of the Union for the Mediterranean with its launch of the Fonds Inframed.
About the European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank is the European Union's bank. Its remit is to grant mostly long-term loans in support of viable private or public investment projects that meet the EU's objectives of integration, cohesion and development, broken down into six priority policies: economic and social cohesion; environmental protection; research and innovation; support for SMEs; trans-European transport networks and promotion of secure, competitive and sustainable energy.
The EIB has a financial arm dedicated to its activities in the Mediterranean, FEMIP - the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership. Its remit is to promote the development of nine countries: Algeria, Egypt, Gaza/West Bank, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia. Its two investment priorities are support for the private sector, the engine of sustainable growth, and the creation of an environment conducive to investment, by means of efficient infrastructure and appropriate banking systems.
FEMIP has established itself as the main financial partner for the Mediterranean region, with more than EUR 7bn invested since 2002. It encourages dialogue between the two shores of the Mediterranean at the institutional level but also with the representatives of the private sector and civil society and carries out field studies financed by its Trust Fund, which is supported by certain EU Member States, in order to constantly increase its understanding of the challenges facing the Euro-Mediterranean region.
