Absa Group Secures A Deal For Green Financing
Absa Group Secures A Deal For Green Financing. International financial institution the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has provided financial services group Absa with a loan of up to $150-million to support the bank’s strategy to expand its climate finance business and help South Africa meet its greenhouse-gas (GHG) reduction targets.
In South Africa, financial institutions are critical sources of climate finance, with commercial banks providing about 67% of the financing for renewable energy projects. “Financial institutions and the private sector have an important role to play in helping South Africa to rebuild greener and more sustainably from the impact of Covid-19,” IFC South Africa country manager Adamou Labara told Engineering News.
“By increasing funding for renewable energy and climate smart projects we can help South Africa strengthen its climate change resilience and increase climate change adaptation,” Labara added. Absa Group Limited (ABGL) (formerly Barclays Africa Group Limited), and originally Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, is a South African-based financial services group, offering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management.
“Africa’s green transition requires considerable mobilisation of funds. The agreement with IFC bolsters our funding available for green projects and strengthens Absa’s position in financing renewable projects in South Africa,” Absa interim Group CE Jason Quinn told Engineering News.
Absa has structured and arranged financing for about 46% of South Africa’s Renewable Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme projects concluded to date, he added. Absa was founded in 1991 through the merger of financial service providers United Bank (South Africa), the Allied Bank (South Africa), the Volkskas Bank Group and certain interests of the Sage Group. The following year, Absa acquired the entire shareholding of the Bankorp Group which included Trustbank, Senbank and Bankfin. In the early years of this union, each bank operated under its own name. In 1998, they were fused into one single brand. A year later, Absa adopted a new corporate identity and the name was changed into Absa Group Limited.
