| Kippreport.com

EBRD agrees 1 billion euro North Africa fund

May 20, 2012 9:49 by Reuters

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development shareholders agreed a €1 billion ($1.27 billion) special fund for the Middle East and North Africa on Saturday ahead of full-scale expansion into the region, the EBRD said in a statement.

The fund will be used for investment in the development bank’s new countries of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, the bank added.

The EBRD last year agreed to expand its mandate into the Middle East and North Africa, but the change has to be ratified by its country shareholders at government level.

The EBRD expects eventually to invest up to €2.5 billion a year in the new region, bringing its overall annual investments in its expanded region of operation to around €11 billion.

The EBRD was set up in 1991 to help countries of the former Soviet Union make the transition to market economies.

($1 = 0.7860 euros)

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; editing by James Jukwey)

Tags: EBRD-fund, Economy, investment, MENA, regional expansion