EU and AFD Boost Sustainable Urban Development with FAST-Cities Guarantee

Today the EU and Agence Française de Développement Group signed the financial guarantee "Financing and Accelerating the Sustainable Transition of Cities" (FAST-Cities).

The FAST-Cities guarantee is an ambitious initiative aimed at supporting the sustainable transformation of cities in the Western Balkans, Türkiye and the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood region, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Pacific regions.  Thanks to a guarantee capacity of €176 million from the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) and its corresponding technical assistance, the programme will address market failures such as insufficient access to finance for cities engaged in implementing sustainable urban projects in the Western Balkans, Türkiye and the Southern Neighbourhood region.

Cities are key drivers of sustainable growth but often lack access to long-term financing and the technical expertise required for green infrastructure projects, in sectors such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, affordable housing, public transport, water and sanitation and waste management. The programme will address these bottlenecks and support investments in large and medium sized cities, as well as actions in green areas, biodiversity and nature-related projects including forestry and wetland management around cities.

Gert Jan Koopman, Director General at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, said: “with this financial guarantee we are joining efforts with our partner AFD in addressing crucial environmental and social challenges in the Enlargement and Neighbourhood countries. We will work together to improve essential municipal services in areas spanning from waste management to public transport, affordable housing and renewable energy.  Through these endeavours with an immediately visible impact on the quality of citizens’ lives we will empower our key partners, the cities, which are the closest public administration to people in our partner countries.”

Marie-Helene Loison, Deputy Director General of AFD, stated: “With the FastCities programme, AFD reiterates its willingness to become a standard maker and a key partner for intermediate cities in Western Balkans, Türkiye and the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood region, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Pacific, to align their development strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals as well as to strengthen their partnership with the EU.”

Background

About EFSD +

The European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) was established in June 2021 and offers EU partner countries support for key investments, using EU grants or financial guarantees. In this way, the EU mobilises additional financial resources for sustainable development from the public and private sectors. The EFSD+ has €39.8 billion in guarantee capacity for the period 2021 to 2027 globally, of which €22.5 billion will be used in the EU’s Enlargement and Neighbourhood regions.