BRICs Bank Holds First Annual Meeting, Key Focus is Towards Energy

The New Development Bank (NDB) held its first annual meeting on Thursday. There, it took stock of its first year of operations, according to the Treasury. The bank, which is a Brics-led initiative, was established in 2014 and became operational in July 2015. In May last year, Indian private banker KV Kamath was appointed to head the institution.

The Treasury said in the first year of operation, the bank had been able to finalise its core operation policies and appoint an executive management team led by Kamath.

USD 100 Million Funding

NBD in it's first meeting has approved the funding of a project for the development of a small-scale energy project in Karelia. NDB will allocate $100 million for the project, NDB President K.V. Kamath told journalists on July 20.

Energy Projects Thrive at NDB

The bank had also processed its first set of loans. This included a $180m loan to Eskom. Bloomberg in April reported that the loan would be used to secure power lines that could transmit 670MW and transform 500MW of renewable energy generation.

The NDB has provided $811m in the first round of loans for clean-energy projects in four countries — Brazil, India, China and SA.

Earlier in July, the bank raised 3-billion yuan (about $450m) by issuing its first "green" bond. The bank’s inaugural green bonds reportedly had a tenor of five years and paid 3.07% interest.

The Treasury said the NDB had moved at "an unprecedented rate" in pursuit of its mandate.