EBRD providing €300 million loan to Tunisia’s electricity company STEG

• €300 million support package for Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz (STEG)
• Safeguarding stability of Tunisia’s energy sector following coronavirus pandemic
• EU, GEF, SECO and SEMED MDA to fund reform and energy sustainability roadmap

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a €300 million financing package to Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz (STEG) to support the stability of Tunisia’s energy sector in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The package consists of two facilities. The first is a €100 million immediate emergency stabilisation facility under the EBRD’s Vital Infrastructure Support Programme. 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 corporatisation of STEG.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is providing a finance of up to €400,000 under the EBRD’s Environmental Technology Transfer programme, which focuses on promoting investments in wastewater treatment and recycling.

The financing package will be accompanied by a detailed reform and energy sustainability roadmap that aims at improving 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 technical cooperation and investment grants package 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), and €140,000  from the EBRD’s SEMED Multi Donor Account (Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Taipei China and the United Kingdom).

 STEG is Tunisia’s state-owned national electricity and gas utility company. Established in 1962, it produces and distributes electricity and natural gas. Its involvement in the gas value chain is limited to gas distribution and gas-fired generation. STEG is also the single off-taker of private renewable energy in the country.

The EBRD is supporting the decarbonisation of Tunisia’ energy sector through the introduction of robust climate governance measures, policy engagement to support solar and wind programmes and strengthening the financial standing of STEG.

Since the start of its operations in Tunisia in 2012, the EBRD has invested €954 million across 49 projects in the country.