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Mutaz Ghandour, Chief Executive Officer of Metito, said,
'We welcome this strategic partnership with IFC, which will enable Metito to undertake other water treatment projects in the region to address the water supply challenges. Partnering with IFC will provide the financial support for our expansion plans and help us to integrate corporate governance practices to support our planned initial public offering in the next couple of years.'
Rashad Kaldany, IFC Infrastructure Department Director, said, 'IFC is committed to support the significant water needs of the Middle East and is pleased to have made its first water sector investment in the region. We look forward to a long-term partnership with Metito to demonstrate how private sector investments in infrastructure can help meet the needs of a growing economy and improve services, especially for people who need them most.'
As predicted by a World Bank report, the Middle East and North Africa will experience a 50 percent drop in water supply per capita by 2050, with serious implications for the region's aquifers and natural hydrological systems. As the region's economies and population structures develop over the next few decades, demands for water supply and irrigation services will change accordingly, as will the need to address industrial and urban pollution. The report states that approximately 60 percent of the region's water flows across international borders, further complicating the resource management challenge.
The agreement will create performance benchmarks as IFC will support and monitor Metito's progress in its leading-edge environmental performance and in the implementation of the health and safety action plans. As a further benefit, Metito is set to use the agreement to tap into IFC's extensive knowledge base on corporate social responsibility.
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Posted by Anne-Birte Stensgaard, Senior News Editor
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