MIGA issues US$98.3m guarantee to boost sustainable refinancing of solar power plants in Egypt

Virtuo Finance has secured US$98.3 million guarantee from Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), an international financial institution, to boost the sustainable refinancing of six operational solar power plants in Egypt’s Benban Solar Park (Power Plants), the largest photovoltaic (PV) solar park in Africa.

The refinancing will reduce financial costs, improve overall financial viability, and generate cost savings to be shared with the Government of Egypt.

The Power Plants will be refinanced through issuance of a first-of-its-kind green bond by Virtuo. Scope Ratings, the leading European credit rating agency, assigned the bond a rating of BBB+, a higher rating than Egypt’s sovereign debt rating. The issuance was arranged by MUFG Securities EMEA.

The Power Plants will be refinanced through the issuance of a first-of-its-kind green bond by Virtuo. The refinancing will reduce financial costs, improve overall financial viability and generate cost savings to be shared with the Government of Egypt. Scope Ratings, a European credit rating agency, assigned the bond a rating of BBB+, a higher rating than Egypt’s sovereign debt rating.

The bond also benefits from certification by the Climate Bond Initiative and has been independently verified by DNV, a leading technical consultancy. Furthermore, the bond meets MIGA’s Performance Standards – an international benchmark for identifying and managing environmental and social risks.

“This groundbreaking climate-certified bond supported by MIGA and EBRD is catalysing opportunities for institutional investors in emerging markets and developing economies,” said Junaid Ahmad, MIGA Vice President for Operations. “The MIGA-EBRD partnership is an example of how multilateral financial institutions can work with client countries to deliver climate finance at scale.”