The EC and the EIB are to supply €18bn of financing under Global Gateway, Europe’s investment strategy for partner countries.
A statement from the two organisations, released alongside the Global CITIZEN Now Summit in New York, said the investment would be concentrated on climate action, clean energy and connectivity in the continent’s partner countries around the world. The European Commission (EC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) added the projects would “help bridge the global climate finance gap and support prevention, adaptation and mitigation”.
“Europe is already the top provider of climate finance globally and of official development assistance,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EC (pictured). “But more is needed to bridge the climate finance gap – and everyone needs to chip in. This is where our investment strategy Global Gateway comes into play.”
The Global Gateway strategy is the EU’s positive offer to partner countries in support of their resilience and sustainable development. It aims to mobilise €300bn in investments between 2021 and 2027 with a mix of grants, concessional loans and guarantees to de-risk private sector investments.
EIB Global, the development arm of the European Investment Bank, will mobilise at least €100bn of this target. Financing from the European Investment Bank has already mobilised €31bn. According to the EC’s website, the Global Gateway has already made investments this year in ‘green’ projects within Nairobi and South Africa.
The Commission will provide an EU budget guarantee to back €8.3bn of EIB lending to Global Gateway. EIB Global will now provide an additional €1.5bn to back up to €10bn of EIB lending. Together, then, the European Commission and the EIB will jointly deliver financing of €18bn for projects aiming to support a green, digital, and fair transition globally.
Improving resilience
“Global Gateway invests in the projects our partners need – from natural risks prevention to clean transport and energy infrastructure,” Von der Leyen added. “And this €18bn in financing will get even more such projects off the ground, swiftly. Global Gateway will help advance the climate transition around the world, improving people’s lives and making our partners more resilient.”
This latest announcement comes weeks after the two signed agreements totalling €4bn to support businesses in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries until 2027. The pair have a long and documented history together. In March last year, Expert Investor wrote about InvestEU – an undertaking that contained nearly €20bn of funding for investment projects across the continent.
According to the EC at the time, there would be €19.65bn of funding to support work in four policy areas: research, innovation and digitisation; small and medium-sized businesses; and social investment and skills. The EC and the EIB also signed an agreement known as the InvestEU Advisory Hub to provide up to €270m in funding for market development, which it said would develop skills and advisory services in the same policy areas.
