Infrastructure fund for southern & eastern Mediterranean

A consortium of five banks, including the European Investment Bank (EIB), has launched a € 385 million fund dedicated to infrastructure investment in the Southern and Easter Mediterranean.

The fund, named InfraMed, says it is targeting commitments of € 1 billion

Besides the EIB, which has put € 50 million into InfraMed, France's Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) and Italy's Casa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) have each committed € 150 million.

Meanwhile Morocco-based Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG) has put in € 20 million and Egypt's EFG Hermes has contributed € 15 million. InfraMed has said it will commit a minimum of 20% of its funds to projects in Egypt and another 20% to Morocco.

The fund will invest primarily in Greenfield projects with minimum requirements on environmental protection, social impact, transparency and procurement, with a view to generally hold investments longer than private equity funds would.

Investments will be chosen on the basis that they can "Contribute to the 'Union for the Mediterranean' by providing funding to sustainable urban, energy and transport infrastructure projects."

The fund will be established under French law, with CDP's president, Prof. Franco Bassanini as its Chairman. Vice-chairmen are CDC CEO Augustin de Romanet and CDG CEO Anass Houir Alami.

This body has appointed Egyptian Minister of Trade, Rachid Mohammed Rachid, as chairman of a strategic board that will provide advice on the fund's activities.