“GIZ believes in banks’ role in mobilising financial resources and allocating them to productive investments makes them important contributors to economic growth and development. As such, bank lending to, and investment in, green assets is viewed as a crucial part of efforts to mitigate climate change by transitioning to a net-zero carbon economy. One of the most developed financial innovations designed to facilitate sustainable investing are Green Bonds, aiming to raise funds to finance projects that help protect the environment. Awareness of SMEs and implementation of sustainability practices allow room for improvement and growth. This encouraged CIB to develop the ‘Sustaining SMEs’ programme to empower the growth of this segment with adequate sustainable finance solutions,” Dalia Abdelkader, Chief Sustainability Officer at CIB, said.