ROME (ITALPRESS) – The promotion of opportunities for exchange and growth between Italian and local businesses, in particular SMEs, identification of new investment opportunities and increase collaboration in joint projects with other international and European financial organisations are the themes at the center of the forum held between a delegation of the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Group, led by President Giovanni Gorno Tempini, the CEO Dario Scannapieco, and the President of Simest Pasquale Salzano, and the Minister of Economy and Planning of Tunisia, Feryel Ouerghi Sebai, the general director of Invest in Tunisia Agency – Fipa, Jalel Tebib, and the ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia to Italy, Mourad Bourehla. Also addressing the meeting were the Deputy General Director for the Promotion of the Country System at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fabrizio Lobasso, and the President of Confindustria Assafrica, Massimo Dal Checco.

The event, organized at the Rome headquarters of the CDP Group in collaboration with Maeci and Confindustria-Assafrica, represented an opportunity to delve deeper into the main investment opportunities in Tunisia, the largest beneficiary of financing from the Rotating Fund for Development Cooperation (FRCS) managed by CDP.

The meeting also aims to identify the best projects in the field by the local government for the development of the country, in particular in the renewable energy and agri-business sectors. In this context, new partnerships and financing methods will be identified, also in collaboration with other national promotional institutions and multilateral development banks already involved in the North Africa region.

In recent years, CDP has participated in financing programs in Tunisia directly or indirectly for around 150 million, especially through resources drawn from the FRCS. Furthermore, in 2023 alone, CDP provided support to sustainable development projects in Africa, in the sectors of food and energy security, the agri-business supply chain and the financial inclusion of local SMEs through the granting of loans for a total of 385 million to multilateral financial institutions as Trade Development Bank Group (TDB), Afreximbank and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the development bank Banque Ouest Africaine de Dèveloppement (BOAD).

Across the entire continent, in recent years, CDP has launched around 70 initiatives for a total amount of around 1.2 billion. CDP has also collaborated for years with its Tunisian counterpart Caisse des Dèpòts et Consignations, as part of the broader Forum of Deposit Banks, the platform for exchange and dialogue between financial institutions in Europe and Africa made up of financial banks from 13 countries (of which 10 on the African continent) established in 2011.

Simest, through the instrument of participatory investments, has developed, in partnership with excellent Italian companies, projects in Tunisia in the mechanical, metallurgical engineering and services sectors. In Africa, Simest has 16 participatory investment projects in its portfolio for 52 million. Starting from 2022, it has financed 39 Italian companies that have undertaken internationalization paths for an amount of 12 million and supported 35 export credit operations in the continent (94% supplier credit) for a total underlying value of 707 million. Overall, Simest’s portfolio on the African continent amounts to over 4 billion.

(ITALPRESS).

– Photo: Cdp Press Office –

Source: medNews