World Bank member, the International Finance Corp. (IFC), has been increasing its investments in infrastructure projects over the past year in the MENA region. The increase in infrastructure investment is aimed at bring more renewable energy into the mix to aid in mitigating climate change.
A number of countries have significant renewable energy potential but without the infrastructure in place it is difficult to take advantage of that potential.
The IFC has committed a total of $783 million to infrastructure projects during the 2015 fiscal year, backing private sector investments in key energy projects to meet the region’s growing demand for power. That follows $639 million invested in the sector in the previous fiscal year.
“With demand for infrastructure, especially power, rising rapidly every year in the region, these projects demonstrate the importance of the private sector in increasing capacity and boosting renewable energy generation,” said Wiebke Schloemer, IFC’s Regional Industry Head of Infrastructure in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. “The region is blessed with an abundance of natural resources so the opportunities in this sector are immense.”
Over the last year, IFC closed an innovative $208-million debt package to fund the construction of seven solar PV plants in Jordan, the largest-ever private sector led solar project in the MENA region.
IFC also invested $25 million in pioneering power company Alcazar Energy to help develop a series of renewable energy projects in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, with a focus on solar and wind power plants.