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Egypt officially launched its voluntary carbon trading market — the first in the country and in Africa — yesterday, according to a statement. The market allows companies to issue and trade voluntary carbon certificates in Egypt and Africa, which can be bought by other companies wanting to offset their emissions. The EGX first announced its plans to set up the continent’s first voluntary carbon market in 2022.
REMEMBER- The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) wrapped up all the necessary requirements and procedures to register carbon emissions-reducing projects and kick start the market earlier this week. A few weeks before that, the FRA rolled out the requirements for brokerage firms looking to trade carbon certificates.
Purchases flowed in: Egyptian food producer Isis Organic purchased carbon credits representing 500 tons of carbon dioxide from 10 farms through the Egyptian Biodynamic Association (EBDA), according to a statement (pdf) from Beltone Securities Brokerage, which executed the transaction. The credits were certified under EBDA’s “Economy of Love” standard, which aims to support small-scale farmers as they switch to organic and biodynamic farming methods.
Support for Indian agroforestry: Egyptian agriculture firm Daltex purchased 1.5k carbon credits from an agroforestry project in India’s Punjab through VNV Advisory, which runs the project, it said in a statement (pdf). The project aims to promote sustainable farming practices in rural India while utilizing income from carbon credits to improve the livelihoods of small farmers.
More to come: Another local emission-reducing project has been registered within the market, FRA head Mohamed Farid told Asharq Business (watch, runtime: 5:22), adding that the FRA is looking to add another six to seven projects to the market in the near future. The next phase will also see renewable energy certificates traded on the new market, Hapi Journal reports.
The interest is high: Officials from seven companies have expressed their intention to apply for the FRA’s approval to trade in carbon emissions reduction certificates and futures contracts in the voluntary carbon market, including Mubasher Financial Services, Arab African International Securities, Bank Audi’s Arabeya Online brokerage, Pioneers Brokerage, and Cairo Financial Holding’s brokerage arm Cairo Capital Securities. CI Capital got the greenlight to start trading in carbon certificates earlier this week.
