Musings From Abroad

Rwanda, Singapore’s GenZero to collaborate on carbon offset initiatives

Published

6 hours ago

September 21, 2024

Singapore’s low-carbon, state-backed investment business, GenZero, has announced that it will work with Rwanda to generate carbon credits to offset emissions.

Australia and Britain have rejected offsets for meeting net zero commitments, while Singapore relies on them due to limited area for large-scale renewable projects.

The deal between GenZero, Rwanda Green Fund, and Gold Standard promotes project integrity under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The clause allows countries to satisfy climate targets by investing in low-carbon projects in other nations through bilateral agreements or a future U.N. trading regime.

“We will review potential projects with the Rwandan Green Fund and the Rwanda Environment Management Authority over the coming months, to determine their eligibility and suitability to be included in the collaboration,” Frederick Teo, chief executive of GenZero, an arm of the state investment fund Temasek, said.

“Projects can be nature-based solutions such as nature restoration, or technology-based solutions such as improved waste management.”

While Article 6 negotiations continue, Singapore has inked memoranda of understanding with Laos and the Philippines and legally binding “implementation agreements” with Ghana and Papua New Guinea.

Ravi Menon, Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action, told a conference last week that Bhutan, Paraguay, and Vietnam pacts have been reached.

Article 6 credits can offset up to 5% of taxable carbon emissions for Singapore enterprises.

While Article 6 negotiations are still in progress, Singapore has legally binding “implementation agreements” with Ghana and Papua New Guinea, as well as memoranda of understanding with Laos and the Philippines.

Additionally, agreements with Bhutan, Paraguay, and Vietnam have been finalised through negotiations, as stated in a presentation last week by Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action, Ravi Menon. Singaporean businesses can purchase credits through Article 6 transactions to offset up to 5% of their taxable carbon emissions.

Following the breakdown of negotiations on a final text in Dubai last year, Article 6 will be a top concern during the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan in November.

The functioning of the United Nations-run carbon market has proven difficult for the parties to agree upon, and some are concerned that bilateral accords may influence national sovereignty.

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Musings From Abroad

Egypt: Bond prices rise following announcement of $5 billion Saudi investment

Published

2 days ago

September 19, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Bond prices rose on Thursday after Egyptian Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, declared that a $5 billion Saudi investment in Egypt was separate from money the Gulf state had deposited in the nation’s central bank.

Sovereign dollar bonds issued by the nation surged to record two-year highs. According to Tradeweb statistics, the 2059 maturity gained the most, increasing 1.35 cents to bid at 77.60 cents on the dollar by 1309 GMT.

Bidding for near-term maturities reached a maximum of 99.52 cents.

“The $5 billion investments will be in projects that will be decided mutually later in important economic sectors,” Madbouly said.

Tuesday saw a significant increase in Egypt’s bond market, pushing the country’s assets to levels last seen in early 2022. This came a day after the Egyptian cabinet announced that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the Saudi sovereign wealth fund (PIF) to invest $5 billion in Egypt in a “first stage” of the plan.

The Central Bank of Egypt has medium long-term deposits worth $5.3 billion from Saudi Arabia, according to data from the bank. Additionally, it made a $5 billion short-term deposit in 2022; it is thought that this money has since been rolled over.

In an attempt to recover from a protracted economic crisis that has resulted in record inflation, a mounting debt load, and severe currency devaluations over the last two years, Egypt has been actively seeking large-scale investments.

The North African country received a boost earlier this year when it agreed to develop a desirable portion of the Mediterranean coast with the United Arab Emirates under the terms of the Ras El Hekma contract and obtained billions of dollars in finance from foreign lenders.

Large-scale investments are currently being made in five Red Sea Coast locations by Cairo, one of which is Ras Banas, a 30-kilometer (19-mile) peninsula located in the extreme south of Egypt across from Saudi Arabia.

It is one of the few remaining undeveloped coastal areas in the nation of North Africa.

“We allocated five large areas on the Red Sea coast, we aim to develop these areas as the developmental centres established like in the Ras El Hekma deal,” he said.

Musings From Abroad

Blinken to address Gaza ceasefire and bilateral relations in Egypt

Published

3 days ago

September 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Concerned about rising tensions in the Middle East, United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is scheduled to visit Cairo on Wednesday.

During his visit, he intends to further efforts to establish a truce in Gaza and fortify relations with Egypt, according to his spokesperson. The visit by the senior US diplomat occurs at a time when the area is still on high alert because of the possibility that the Gaza War could spread, especially after Hezbollah, a militant organisation, threatened to avenge Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers around Lebanon on Tuesday.

Regarding the explosions, Israel has not answered enquiries. Nearly 3,000 people were injured, and at least nine people lost their lives.

At a routine briefing, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated that while it was too soon to determine how the events in Lebanon might impact the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, diplomacy was thought to be the most effective means of easing tensions.

Before meeting with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and other officials on Wednesday morning, Blinken met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo.

How we achieve a plan that we think would get support from both parties” to an Israel-Hamas truce was “squarely on the table” in Blinken’s conversations with Egyptian officials, Miller added.

For weeks, American authorities have stated that a fresh plan for a settlement that would see the release of hostages that Hamas had kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023, would be made available soon.

“There are some issues that we need to engage with the government of Egypt on as it relates to this ceasefire proposal that we are trying to bring to fruition,” Miller said.
According to a State Department official, Blinken will travel from Cairo to Paris on Thursday to meet with the foreign ministers of France, Italy, and Britain. During the meeting, they will talk about the Middle East, Ukraine, and other topics. According to the official, Blinken will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron.

This is the first time Blinken has skipped a stop in Washington’s closest regional ally, Israel since the Palestinian militant group Hamas started the Gaza War almost a year ago. Blinken will not be visiting Israel during this trip.

Miller explained that this was because Washington’s goal for this trip was to talk to Egypt about bilateral matters, and the proposal for a Gaza truce that the United States and its mediators have been working on was still not ready to be presented to Israel.

“So it would be premature to be presenting such a proposal, or doing any other diplomatic engagements,” he added.

In the crucial diplomatic effort to end the war, Egypt and Qatar have acted as a go-between for Hamas and Israel’s proposals and counterproposals. In an attempt to improve the flow of humanitarian supplies to Gaza’s 2.3 million war-torn citizens, Washington has also relied on Cairo.

In the raid on Israel last year, Palestinian militants claimed 1,200 lives and captured over 250 prisoners, according to Israeli accounts. Gaza claims that over 41,000 people have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory attack, which has essentially destroyed the territory.

Washington has sent billions of dollars into military aid to Egypt over their decades-long cooperation, even in the face of allegations of serious abuses, including torture and enforced disappearances, under Sisi’s regime. The Egyptian government refutes the charges.

Last week, Blinken lifted human rights requirements on U.S. foreign military assistance to Egypt, allowing the entire $1.3 billion for the first time since President Joe Biden took office, signalling Cairo’s growing prominence.

After promising to prioritise human rights in U.S.-Egypt relations, Seth Binder, director of advocacy for the Middle East Democracy Centre in Washington, stated that the Biden administration has “completely abandoned any pretence that human rights matter to the relationship.”