The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provided a €300-million financing package (the equivalent of 970 million dinars) to the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG).
The loan agreement was signed on Wednesday in Tunis between STEG’s CEO, Hichem Anane, and EBRD’s head of office in Tunisia, Antoine Sallé de Chou.
The loan will support the stability of Tunisia’s energy sector during the coronavirus pandemic in the medium term, EBRD said in a statement.
It will enable STEG to implement an ambitious corporate and climate reform roadmap that would anchor the shift towards a more sustainable and efficiently run company.
The package consists of two facilities. The first is an immediate €100 million emergency stabilization facility under the EBRD’s Vital Infrastructure Support Program. The second facility of up to €200 million will help refinance STEG’s short and medium-term liabilities.
In addition, the European Union is providing an investment grant of up to €20 million to finance the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system, a necessary step towards the modernization of STEG.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is providing a grant of up to €400,000 under the EBRD’s Environmental Technology Transfer program, which focuses on promoting investments in wastewater treatment and recycling.
The financing package will be accompanied by a detailed roadmap for reform and energy sustainability that aims to improve the company’s corporate and climate governance, enhancing financial management and promoting inclusion to support equal opportunities and career development for women and young professionals.
The roadmap includes a comprehensive package of technical cooperation and investment grants consisting of €2.5 million from the European Union, €75,000 from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), €1.2 million from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), €140,000 from the EBRD’s Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) Multi-Donor Account (Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Taipei China and the United Kingdom) and €200,000 from the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund.
