Innovation and the climate were at the heart of the loans granted by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to French companies and communities last year, she revealed during a press conference on Thursday.
In 2023, the institution has invested nearly 12 billion euros in France, an increase of 16% over one year.
France, the second-largest beneficiary of the institution’s loans in the European Union, stands out for the amount of financing granted to environment-related projects, which represent 64% of the EIB’s investment volumes in the country.
In detail, through its loan mechanisms, the EIB has financed 10.6 billion euros of projects, including 6.9 billion euros in favor of renewable energies, clean mobility and energy efficiency.
The bank cites a loan of 450 million euros for the mega-electric battery factory of the Sino-Japanese group AESC-Envision Douai (North), or even 250 million euros for Sorgies, a regional electricity and gas distribution group low Poitiers.
The institution has also invested 3.9 billion euros in innovative projects, including 750 million euros for the American electronic chip founder GlobalFoundries, which is developing a mega-chip factory in Crolles, in Isre, in collaboration with STMicroelectronics.
For its part, its subsidiary dedicated to financing SMEs, the European Investment Fund (EFI), provided 1.4 billion euros from French SMEs, notably via bank guarantees. He also contributed to the implementation in 2023 of the Tech Champions fund, with 3.75 billion euros, intended to help SMEs raise larger amounts of capital.
For financing rounds for SMEs of 30, 40, 50 million euros and more, Europe disappeared and the investors were mainly non-European, with the key (…) relocation of decision-making centers, research, explains Jacques Darcy, from the FEI. It is a fund that is gaining momentum and will be particularly active in 2024, he assures.
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