we receive e we publish the following press release issued by Cdp.
Favor opportunities for exchange and growth between Italian and local companies, in particular SMEs, identify new investment opportunities and increase collaboration in joint projects with other international and European financial organisations. These are the themes at the center of the Forum “Investment opportunities in Tunisia”, held today among a delegation from Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Group (CDP), led by the President, Giovanni Gorno Tempini, by the CEO, Dario Scannapieco, and by the President of SIMEST, Pasquale Salzano, and the Minister of Economy and Planning of the Republic of Tunisia, HE Feryel Ouerghi Sebai, the General Director of Invest in Tunisia Agency – FIPA, Jalel Tebib, and the Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia to Italy, SE Mourad Bourehla. Also speaking at the meeting were the Deputy Director General for the Promotion of the Country System of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), 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 Institutes 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 approximately 150 million euros, especially through resources drawn from the Rotating Fund for Development Cooperation (FRCS). Furthermore, in 2023 alone, CDP provided support for 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 financing to the multilateral financial institutions Trade Development Bank Group (TDB), Afreximbank and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the development bank Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD) for a total of 385 million. Across the continent, in recent years, CDP has launched around 70 transactions for a total amount of around 1,2 billion euros.
CDP it has also collaborated for years with its Tunisian counterpart Caisse des Dépôts 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 banks from 13 countries (of which 10 of 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 and services sectors. In Africa, SIMEST has 16 participatory investment projects in its portfolio for 52 million euros. Starting from 2022, it has financed 39 Italian companies that have undertaken internationalization paths for an amount of 12 million euros and supported 35 export credit operations on the continent (94% supplier credit) for a total underlying value of 707 million euros. Overall, SIMEST's portfolio on the African continent amounts to over 4 billion euros.
