CIB-IFC Egypt’s First Corporate Green Bond Journey: Driving the Momentum

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:04]Towers rise like monuments to progress.

[00:00:09]Light, luxury, [music] views gleaming in the sun, proud and defiant.

[00:00:17]But inside their walls, something unspoken [music] lingers.

[00:00:23]>> [music] >> The heat, a material waste, a cost no blueprint accounted for. Each one [music] a silent emitter. Each window a barrier between comfort and collapse.

[00:00:38]They do not whisper. They exhale carbon, >> [music] >> waste, strain on our grids, on our lungs, [clears throat] on our futures. These buildings [music] weren't made to last, only to impress.

[00:00:51]The market is shifting.

[00:00:53]What once was an asset can [music] become a liability if we don't change approach to building with environmental responsibility at the core.

[00:01:03]Buildings [music] and construction equals nearly 40% of global energy-related carbon emissions.

[00:01:11]In 2021, CIB issued Egypt's first corporate green bond, a market signal, not just a financial instrument. [music] CIB wasn't just aiming to go green. They were determined to integrate sustainability [music] in the core of their risk and business strategy. Over two decades ago, CIB realized the strategic value and business case of sustainable finance. In 2021, CIB partnered with the International Finance Corporation to issue Egypt's first-ever corporate green bond. The green bond has successfully financed environmentally impactful projects amounting to 334 million US dollars across [music] key areas, including green buildings, energy efficiency, renewable energy, water management systems, and energy management systems. That bond became a model for how development finance and banking can drive impact together. IFC partnership with CIB to support [music] Egypt's green transition by launching this first green bond was not only a milestone for green finance, but also a strategic move to mitigate long-term environmental and financial risk. The partnership between CIB and IFC is a true example of a blueprint for financial innovation in sustainable finance. It reflects how development finance institutions and commercial banks can jointly [music] create scalable financial solutions, support systematic sustainability transitions, build capacity not only within the bank, but also across our client base. At the heart of this market movement stood the green buildings. Bold structures that prove sustainability isn't just an ideal, [music] but a blueprint for the future.

[00:02:44]For CIB, this was never just about buildings. [music] It was about embedding climate action into how value is created for clients, stakeholders, and Egypt. CIB designed a very comprehensive and a client-centric sustainable finance value proposition that aimed at enhancing profitability and operational efficiency. This includes grants, walk-through audits, technical assistance, and even green building certification. It's about making sustainability meaningful, profitable, and impactful. Over 300 million dollars mobilized, 22 projects activated, carbon avoided, energy conserved, water systems optimized, lives touched by smarter design. The green bond unlocked more than capital. It created opportunity.

[00:03:29]Sustainability was no longer just a product. It emerged as a one-of-a-kind solution and benchmark for excellence.

[00:03:36]Back to 2010, SODIC has started the dream of the sustainability. We had this dream because we wanted to take further steps, big milestones [music] when it comes to this very important thing. It's not, by the way, luxury to have. It's a must to have. And when we have done this, we believe that this is going to be the edge of Sodic as a market leader that has been in the market for years and years, driving this market and setting the benchmark for others. And we started building one of the most prestigious business parts in Egypt, which is media and seeing at least of kind. Our relationship with the CIB is a very long-term relationship.

[00:04:14]We have shared the the same vision and we have a very consolidated approach towards creating sustainable communities. We have a long-term relationship in terms of the process technically and financially. We're inspired by how they helped us build capacity of our staff and team during the process. [music] And we continue that for New Giza University. The first certification bond was for New Giza University first engineering building.

[00:04:43]The campus has 10 buildings, which gave us a very very strong confidence that all of our buildings are at the same level when it comes to energy and sustainability savings, [music] more than 50% I would say. This helped us as well engage again with the CIB in proceeding with other buildings within the campus. They're in process and we are almost complete in that process of their certification to obtain the green bond for it. With CIB, with their access to the green bond and attached to it of course the capability, the advisory capability and support whether in the design of the buildings and review and helping us ensure that our buildings would meet the requirements for the edge certification.

[00:05:25]There was very effective knowledge transfer and a true spirit of partnership between ourselves and CIB.

[00:05:31]We started this journey few years ago with the CIB and it really worked well towards aligning our goals together and our visions together when it comes to sustainability of our developments.

[00:05:43]First, we do a lot of designs of both residential and non-residential buildings [music] such as the campus, such as mixed use. It comes to the design of the central plant, the water treatment, and how to use gray water, how to expand on the on the district cooling elements to save more on the energy, the selection of material, the we're more aware of of of how to proceed with that now, and it's quite impactful into our strategy now when it comes to our business planning, and it's part of the process we've done.

[00:06:16]>> EDNC was a dream for us to win having a lot of energy saving industry actually perspectives. We started with Edge during [music] this journey in addition to CIB who believed with us and this amazing story to build [music] together. The Edge certificate had made us a lot of energy saving, 40% plus 33% [music] water reduction, and 22% from the embodied material that we have put in this project.

[00:06:44]>> As a developer offering a grade A warehouses which in itself is a unique proposition, we further wanted to make sure that we attract the right setup of tenants. Our buildings in Yanbu East Cairo Logistics Park have on average an estimate of 49% reduction in energy consumption, 53% reduction in water consumption, and the use of carbon efficient material also results in about a 59% reduction in the carbon footprint from the materials that were used in the construction of the buildings. Beyond the the tenants, there was a direct economic benefit, and that is in the form of a 2.8% cash back from the construction cost of the warehouses. So, that is a direct financial benefit. The green building certification substantially impacted our profitability in terms of the operating cost. It helped us reduce operating cost substantially. As you know, the the cost of energy is now skyrocketing, [music] so this helped us that in that process. It helped us also study more when it comes to the design of new projects, when it comes to expansion of the New Giza University campus.

[00:07:51]We focus more on energy-efficient designs, whether it's electromechanical, whether it's architecture material. The impact on ESG, of course, gave Giza more drive into moving towards sustainability when it comes to all its projects.

[00:08:07]All our developers are now being focused in terms of designing for efficient buildings, designing infrastructure that is conserving water, that is energy saving. CIB and IFC [music] didn't just collaborate.

[00:08:25]They co-created a roadmap, a reference for how sustainable finance can reshape industries >> [music] >> and trigger real economy transition.

[00:08:33]This was not just a bond, but an industry movement. Today, through the AG 30 by 30 program, we are building on that foundation, scaling green financing, supporting resilient project, and helping our institution reduce their carbon you know footprint. These effort directly contribute to Egypt's climate goals, while strengthening the financial sector's ability to manage climate-related risk. Together, CIB and IFC enabled a meaningful transformation that reached beyond internal operations to impact market-wide practices.

[00:09:06]It's a real partnership that is scalable, strategic, and systematic. The students are the clients, and they are the the end users of the place. [music] And they are studying engineering specifically in this building. So, when it comes to almost 5,000 students being aware that we have green buildings within their campus, and the engineering students studying as well technological advances, and and everybody in that generation now is more aware of sustainability, and is more aware about how to save the environment, [music] etc. This inspired them in their daily life, in their focus in the study, in the curriculum itself.

[00:09:41]And again, it impacted us when it comes to getting the feedback that we require.

[00:09:47]>> The general direction to investing green buildings in Egypt has started a couple of years ago already. So, it's already underway. Access to that kind of financing that would give certain benefits definitely was a a big promotional element in in pushing sort of the agenda of green buildings. But on top of that, the market is becoming more conscious, more aware, and more and more clients are requiring. So, there's demand for that and there's limited supply. Because part of the sustainability is the economic sustainability of of any adventure. But broader than EUE and our investment strategy as a group Hassan Allam, we have adopted our ESG strategy a couple of years ago.

[00:10:22]So, definitely this is an important milestone in [music] realizing some of our goals and being true to our intentions, but also having in place real actions that when we come to measure our results would contribute positively to our commitments under our ESG strategy.

[00:10:43]Green finance will cover this area and I can tell that Egypt has a lot to do with that. We still have big milestones in order to achieve and to have this done, we need to have the support of our banking sectors in order to support the developers to build green environment, green buildings, [music] and communities. Egypt's first corporate green bond proved what's possible when vision meets courage. We saw ambition, but also a clearer structure and framework for managing risk. To me, it's not a matter of a what or if, it's a when. It's [music] happening. It's ramping up. But then, this was only made possible because the enablers for green buildings to pick up and sort of make their break through or sort of go at material levels is now available. The future of green buildings in Egypt is very [music] promising. The new generations, such as the students in this campus, are fully aware of the importance of health, of the importance [music] of environment, of importance of reducing a carbon footprint in general. So, I think there is a lot of improvement, there [music] is a lot of drive to reach that position. Through our partnership with the CIB, we're looking forward more green finance that we can do much bigger milestones when it comes to the sustainability. I see that Egypt has the chance to have really green buildings all [music] over a postage, not only at Sodic, but maybe at [music] also other developers. We don't view sustainability as a parallel agenda, but as a core driver of value creation and future resilience, especially in the face of growing complexity and uncertainty [music] in the global landscape. Sustainability is a board-level mandate at CIB. I'm really honored to lead the board sustainability [music] committee in the bank. The board sustainability committee ensures that the ESG principles are embedded in the bank's systems, policies, and long-term growth strategy.

[00:12:36]This wasn't [music] just a milestone for CIB and IFC. It was a signal to the market. Sustainability is not a niche, it's the next frontier of competitiveness, finance with value creation, a trigger for transformation, driving the momentum.