Brussels, 31/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 26 October the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced that it is contributing € 10 million to the SGAM (Société Générale Asset Management) Al Kantara Investment Fund (Kantara means bridge in Arabic). This venture capital attribution will ultimately reach a size of some € 120 million and will seek to generate capital appreciation for companies in this region. Action will include strategic and majority interest holdings and target medium sized enterprises in high growth potential sectors that are likely to benefit from liberalisation and opening up of the economy to international penetration. The Kantara project will be operational in the next few weeks and will consist of two units: a regional competency and the other, Kantara Morocco. This distinction aims to respond to the specific needs of Moroccan companies and financial bodies that are limited in their external action by legislation regarded as being too restrictive.
The European Investment Bank has already carried out 21 similar support operations with financial bodies implanted in the Mediterranean rim. But it is putting the emphasis on this project insofar as it involves a body from outside the zone, even though the SG group is already participating in different joint actions with North African banks for the main part. Its novelty also lies in its multi-sectoral nature. The EIB considers that this kind of action can reinforce its support to enterprise, particularly SMEs and to which it intends to devote almost a third of its resources from European action in the Mediterranean. It will be managed as part of the FEMIP framework (Facilité euromed pour l'investissement et le partenariat). (fb)