EBRD, EU & TCX Launch €59 Million Green Economy Financing Facility In Tunisia To Support MSMEs, Energy Efficiency, And Climate-Adaptive Investments

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in collaboration with the European Union (EU), has launched the Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) programme in Tunisia. This initiative aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the private sector while supporting Tunisia’s transition to an environmentally sustainable economy. The GEFF programme, the first of its kind in Tunisia, will provide €59 million in senior unsecured loans to up to six local financial institutions.

These institutions will on-lend the funds to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate adaptation, and circular economy projects. The programme is also supported by the Currency Exchange Fund (TCX), providing Tunisian banks with a foreign exchange hedging mechanism at reduced pricing, backed by the EU. Tunisia has experienced rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the past three decades, primarily driven by energy-intensive industrial growth.

In response, the country updated its nationally determined contributions in 2021, setting a target to reduce carbon intensity by 45 per cent by 2030. The GEFF programme will help achieve this goal by enabling more MSMEs to adopt climate-adaptation and climate-mitigation technologies. These investments are expected to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 26,296 tonnes annually. In addition to financing, the programme includes a comprehensive technical cooperation package from the EBRD and the EU.

This package provides capacity-building support for partner financial institutions, promoting equal access to green finance for women and men. It also offers EU-funded investment incentives for sub-borrowers who successfully adopt and verify high-performance technologies. Globally, the GEFF programme operates through 191 local financial institutions across 29 countries, supported by €6.3 billion of EBRD financing. To date, it has helped over 231,000 clients avoid more than 10 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

Since beginning operations in Tunisia in 2012, the EBRD has invested over €2.78 billion in 83 projects across the country, with 66 per cent of these investments directed to the private sector. The new GEFF programme builds on this experience and is expected to accelerate private sector engagement in green technologies while supporting Tunisia’s long-term sustainability objectives.