EIB could finance Germany's proposed Beirut port reconstruction
Germany is to present a multi-billion-dollar proposal to Lebanese authorities to rebuild the Port of Beirut as part of efforts to entice the country’s politicians to form a government capable of warding off financial collapse, two sources said.
Berlin will this week outline its proposal, which the diplomatic sources said would in principle include support from the European Investment Bank, to help fund the clearing of the area and reconstruction facilities. One of the sources estimated EIB funding could be in the range of €2 billion to €3 billion. A chemical explosion at the port last August killed 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed entire neighbourhoods in the Lebanese capital, plunging the country deeper into its worst political and economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
An EIB spokesman said it was aware of the proposal put forward by the port of Hamburg and its consultancy team for the reconstruction of the port of Beirut and surrounding areas. “However, there currently is no financing offer by the EIB. Any EIB financing would be subject to due diligence and have to follow the Bank’s usual processes for such operations,” he said. It would also need to comply with the EIB’s procurement guidelines, environmental and social standards, he said.
Germany’s ambassador to Lebanon, Andreas Kindl, confirmed a proposal would be made next week to redevelop Beirut port and nearby areas. The plan had been drawn up by several private companies who would hold talks in Beirut to present it, he said.
In addition to the port itself, Germany’s proposal would look to redevelop more than 100 hectares in the surrounding area in a project that the two diplomatic sources said would be along the lines of the post-war reconstruction of central Beirut.
The sources put the project cost at anywhere between $5 billion to $15 billion, and said it could create as many as 50,000 jobs.
The two diplomatic sources said Lebanon’s political elite first need to agree on the make-up of a new government to fix public finances and root out corruption, a condition which donors, including the International Monetary Fund, are also insisting on before they will unlock billions of dollars in aid. “This plan is not going to come without strings attached,” said one of the sources.
