Agence Française de Développement (AFD) joins forces with the Investment and Development Fund of Montenegro (IDF) to facilitate investments in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A €50 million credit line and a €400,000 technical assistance grant, in support of developing climate projects in line with the Paris Agreement, were signed on April 21 in Paris.
The program also aims to contribute to the emergence and growth of projects supporting a sustainable post-Covid-19 economic recovery in the most vulnerable regions of the country, promoting balanced territorial development, through specific support schemes for entrepreneurs in the areas concerned.
This is the first AFD loan signed in the region, following the recent opening in Belgrade of its regional office covering the six Western Balkan countries. The signing took place in the presence of Montenegrin Foreign Minister Đorđe Radulović, during his official visit to Paris, and Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. They signed the intergovernmental agreement on AFD Group activities in Montenegro.
“With both social and climate components, this program offers an integrated response to the requirements of our clients,” said Irena Radović, Executive Director of IDF. “It provides tailored technical and financial assistance, which will provide support on the path to an ecological transition and a sustainable economic revival, and assures access to financing, which will help overcome challenges related to the post-Covid economic recovery. I am very pleased with this first partnership with AFD, which is the beginning of long-term cooperation between our two institutions”.
“This financing is in line with France’s strategy for the Western Balkans. It is also part of France’s broader approach to supporting Montenegro’s ambitions and commitments in terms of climate change, protecting the environment, sustainable economic and social development, as well as being in line with its European perspective. It reflects and contributes to the reinforcement of bilateral relations between our two countries, supported by the highest authorities of the State,” said Christian Thimonier, Ambassador of France to Montenegro.
Jean-Pierre Marcelli, AFD’s Executive Director of Operations, is delighted with “the launch of this program, which is the result of a fruitful strategic and operational dialogue established with IDF. This initiative demonstrates AFD’s expertise in climate finance and our ability to provide concrete and suitable support to partners for a post-Covid recovery on a trajectory compatible with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. We will continue to invest vigorously in the coming months and years on these key issues in Montenegro and the Western Balkans, through financing and technical tools mobilized by AFD Group.”
From 2019, more than €300 million was committed by AFD in different Western Balkans countries, most of them in partnership with International Finance Institutions.
