The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a financing agreement of USD 60 million with IPT Powertech Group to support the energy efficiency of telecommunications’ infrastructure in Lebanon and Guinea. The EIB loan, which is the first financing operation to a Lebanese corporate, comes in the context of the Bank’s Economic Resilience Initiative. The financing will contribute to the creation of 1950 new jobs.
The EIB financing is part of a strong EU support to the projects. In total, EIB and European partners DEG, Proparco and Finnfund will provide USD 115 million of financing to the Lebanese group.
“I am pleased to sign the first EIB’s loan to a Lebanese corporate. Together with our European partners, our financing will support climate action by improving renewable energy generation and reinforcing energy efficiency. It will create jobs and improve telecom services”, commented Dario Scannapieco, Vice president of the EIB on the signature.
"Financing for telecommunications and renewables is one of the areas that DEG focuses on. We are happy to accompany IPT with our European partners in the sustainable further development of its promising business model. We believe in a long-term partnership”, added Turan Caglayan, DEG's Senior Director for Middle East, Europe, Central Asia and Asia.
The EIB financing will support the installation of a new energy efficient infrastructure for the existing and new cellular towers across Lebanon and Guinea, in order to improve the energy efficiency and reliability of power supply, as well as increasing renewable energy consumption.
The EIB USD 60 million financing is equally split between Lebanese and Guinean projects. It will contribute to the creation of more than 250 and 1,700 permanent jobs respectively in Lebanon and Guinea.
The projects to be implemented by the Lebanese group will not only stimulate innovation and increase the availability of telecommunication infrastructure and services, but also will support climate action. These investments will also help to disseminate knowledge in the area of advanced manufacturing technology.
IPT Powertech Group is a Beirut-based Energy Services Company (ESCO) delivering specialized solutions mainly to the telecom sector in eleven countries across the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia.
Background information
The EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI), approved by the EU Member States in 2016, consists of an integrated package of loans, concessional finance and innovative instruments designed to enable financing of an additional EUR 15 billion of investments on top of schemes already planned.