Egypt eyes more green bonds one year after a $750 million sale – official

Egypt is seeking to increase the number and frequency of its issuances of green bonds following a successful $750 million sale a year ago, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk revealed on Tuesday.

“In principle, one of our top priorities is to continue going in that direction in issuing more Green bonds,” Kouchouk said at a GlobalCapital conference on sustainable finance.

Egypt became the first country in the Middle East and North Africa region to sell such bonds when it issued $750 million in five-year green bonds in September 2020. That deal offered investors a 5.25 percent yield.

Proceeds from the 2020 sale were designated for financing or refinancing green projects in sectors such as transportation, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.

“Not only as a sovereign, by the way. One of the key objectives for us in going in this market was to create a benchmark for the private sector.” Kouchouk further said.

“We’re very pleased and very happy to see now banks coming, financial institutions and private companies and corporates trying to tap this market from Egypt,”