Economic operators discuss SUNREF’s third line of credit

Post date

Mar 11, 2020

MCB Group

250 participants gathered at the Westin Turtle Bay Hotel on 5th March to discuss the third Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Finance (SUNREF) line of credit. This meeting has enabled participants to become more familiar with the functioning and advantages of this line of credit, and to exchange with SUNREF’s two partner banks, namely MCB and SBM.

Through a Rs 3 billion (75 million euros) line of credit from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), SUNREF aims at encouraging businesses and individuals in Mauritius to invest in climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and gender equality. The ultimate goal of the 3rd edition of the SUNREF programme is to help Mauritius accelerate its transition to a green economy, which would be more resilient to climate change and more inclusive.

This third line of credit was created following the success of the first two SUNREF lines of credit (2009-2018), which have enabled the financing of more than 460 green projects for businesses and individuals. The current line of credit is accompanied by a grant of Rs 280 million (7 million euros) from the European Union (EU), for technical assistance and additional investment grants to eligible projects.

Since 2009, its partnership with AFD under the SUNREF programme has enabled MCB to deploy its “Green loans” offering. As at to date, MCB stands as the largest provider of loans under the SUNREF programme and has granted some 400 Green Loans, through the first two lines, as well as the current new line, for a cumulative value of Rs 3.1 billion to companies, SMEs and individuals operating in Mauritius, Madagascar and the Seychelles. MCB is actively working so that the objectives of the new line, which aims at being much more ambitious, are fully met, by proactively engaging with project promoters, for the financing of innovative and viable projects, with strong positive environmental and social impacts.