Gender Expert(s)_Egypt_Green Economy Financing Facility in Egypt II

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the EBRD or the Bank) aims at addressing climate risks in Egypt by stablishing a Facility entitled Green Economy Financing Facility in Egypt II (“GEFF Egypt II” or “the Facility”). The Facility will continue in activities successfully implemented under the European Union (EU) supported GEFF Egypt (energy efficiency and renewable energy) and will extend them to climate change adaptation measures (including resource efficiency) ensuring gender-responsiveness and including activities promoting the uptake by women sub-borrowers, as well as policy dialogue. The Facility is expected to be supported by the EU and the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
The Facility will also extend its support to implementation of energy improvements in residential and commercial buildings.  The Facility will apply Best Available Technologies that are locally available in the market and listed in the recently populated Green Technology Selector.

The Facility is closely aligned to the country’s national sustainable development strategy and implementation plans, and will complement the government’s efforts in scaling up private sector investment for a competitive, green and inclusive economy.

The Facility also aims to achieve a balanced geographical distribution of green economy investments within Egypt – in both urban and rural locations – by leveraging the wide branch networks of PFIs - and will raise awareness in underserved customer segments, particularly women-led businesses, about green technologies and help improve their access to green finance. A gender baseline assessment will inform a comprehensive Gender Action Plan targeting both the PFI as well as the sub-borrower level.
It will be implemented in parallel with three other EBRD programmes: the EU-supported GEFF Egypt I, the EU and GCF supported Green Value Chain programme and a new GCF supported Green SME Line with National Bank of Egypt (NBE).

In this context, GEFF Egypt II will provide financing of up to EUR150 million that will be on lent by the local Participating Financial Institutions (PFI) to finance energy efficiency (“EE”), renewable energy (“RE”) and resource efficiency (“RES”) sub-projects in Egypt. This will promote EBRD’s Green Economy Transition (“GET”) approach in Egypt, a country with a strong need to diversify its energy supply and tackle resource inefficiency, specifically in water and waste management and soil protection. The local PFIs will be strong partners in fostering a more active green finance ecosystem in the country. Targeted TC following the standard GEFF model will ensure a tailored and sustainable lending approach for the PFIs. Gender considerations are reflected in the implementation of the TC.
In addition, GEFF Egypt II forms part of the “GCF-GEFF Framework”, a cooperation between EBRD and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) that will be implemented in ten of EBRD’s countries of operation. In this context, GEFF Egypt II structure, procedures and eligibility requirements will follow a standardised GEFF approach and that of the GCF-GEFF Regional Framework.
The expected outcome of the Facility is to transfer strategic expertise and raising awareness about highly performing climate mitigation and climate adaptation technologies and measures and environmental standards to contribute to creation of a demand-driven, self-sustaining market for investments in high performance technologies and services supporting a green economy that promotes women and men’s equal access to green finance.
Assignment Description:
The EBRD intends to enter into a Framework Contract to deliver professional consultancy services as follows:

• Support to PFIs in development of a pipeline through marketing and project origination activities leading to a portfolio of EUR 150 million of eligible sub-loans for financing by PFIs;
• Providing training and capacity building to PFIs, including e-Learning activities, helping them to build an internal capacity for sustainable green landing;
• Support to SMEs in preparing and developing their sub-projects for financing by PFIs;
• Providing gender-responsive capacity building and training to PFI staff and local experts as required;
• Raising awareness of green economy lending in Egypt among women and men led subborrowers as required; and
• Awareness raising on the Facility outcomes through various communication channels, dissemination of case studies on successfully implemented projects and providing donor visibility.