European Investment Bank Activity Report 2021

EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK

THE

INNOVATION

RESPONSE

2021ACTIVITYREPORT

About the European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank is the EU bank and the world’s biggest multilateral lender. We finance sustainable investment in small and medium-sized enterprises, innovation, infrastructure, and climate and environment. For six decades, we have financed Europe’s economic growth from start-ups like Skype to massive projects like the Øresund Bridge linking Sweden and Denmark. We are committed to supporting €1 trillion in investment in climate and environmental sustainability to combat climate change by the end of this decade. About 10% of all our investment is outside the European Union, supporting Europe’s neighbours and global development.

HOW TO READ THIS REPORT WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT When faced with unprecedented crises and massive needs, there is no point sticking to business as usual. The response must be innovative. It must offer new solutions that point to a different future. In 2021, the European Investment Bank confronted two great threats, the climate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, even as the challenges posed by development grew more urgent. The EU bank tackled these hazards by thinking hard and moving fast — in new directions. That might mean investing in an innovative company. Or creating an innovative financial tool to bridge the crisis period for firms that were healthy before the pandemic hit. But the first thought was always how to go at it in a different, more effective way — how to lay a new path that leads to a sustainable, green, inclusive future. This report highlights our emergency response to COVID-19 through the unique European Guarantee Fund, as well as our support for healthcare companies working on cures and therapies for the disease. It illustrates the dimensions of our backing for companies that are forging new frontiers of climate action — sometimes right into outer space. It demonstrates our commitment to a better future for all Europeans in our cohesion investment and for all global citizens through our development work. Innovation is the framework of the future. In its three main sections, this report lays out the kind of future we aim to build. It will be a healthy world. A green world. An inclusive world. The rest of the report provides the context for these investments. From our president’s strategic thinking in the foreword to data on the Bank’s lending and borrowing and a look at the year ahead in the highlights of the Group Operational Plan. The report tells the story of a crucial financial institution whose ambition is to help solve the problems we face now — inspired by a vision of a healthy, green, inclusive future.

FOREWORD

2021 HIGHLIGHTS LENDING AND IMPACT DATA

THE EIB IN YOUR COUNTRY LENDING BY COUNTRY

THE EIB IN YOUR WORLD LENDING OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN UNION

HEALTHY WORLD

COVID-19 SOLUTIONS: WHY RISKY IDEAS ARE GOOD IN A CRISIS

COVID-19 SOLUTIONS: THE PANDEMIC NEXT TIME

COVID-19 SUPPORT: VACCINATION IN AFRICA

COVID-19 SUPPORT: LIFE AND DEATH

COVID-19 SUPPORT: A PANDEMIC PRESCRIPTION FOR BANKS

COVID-19 SUPPORT: DIGITAL SURVIVORS

COVID-19 SUPPORT: LET THERE BE POWER

COVID-19 SUPPORT: THE SOUND OF GLASSES

COVID-19 SUPPORT: TO GROW BIG, SUPPORT SMALL

GREEN WORLD

CLIMATE BANK ROADMAP: A TRUE CLIMATE BANK

GERMAN SATELLITES: SILICON VALLEY ON THE ISAR

BULGARIAN SATELLITES: SPACE FOR EVERYONE

SWEDISH RESEARCH: SUBATOMIC CLIMATE SOLUTIONS

SWEDISH CIRCULAR ECONOMY: BACK IN FASHION

ITALIAN ENERGY: CUT EMISSIONS, CUT RATES

IRISH INTERNET OF THINGS: GREEN HEAT

EGYPTIAN TRANSPORT: ANCIENT MONUMENTS, MODERN METRO

INCLUSIVE WORLD

POLISH ROBOTS: PICKING POLAND

POLISH FIBRE: DARE TO CONNECT

ROMANIAN TRANSPORT: HOW ROMANIA ROLLS

EQUITY FUNDS IN ASIA AND LATIN AMERICA: WORLDWIDE ACTION, LOCAL CHANGE

CONGO BANKING: A REAL STRESS TEST

EGYPTIAN INVESTMENT: PRIVATE EQUITY 2.0

AFRICAN GENDER-LENS INVESTMENT: A TRUE BY WOMEN, FOR WOMEN FUND

BORROWING HIGHLIGHTS

GROUP OPERATIONAL REPORT AND GOVERNANCE

When faced with unprecedented crises and massive needs, there is no point sticking to business as usual. The response must be innovative. It must offer new solutions that point to a different future.

In 2021, the European Investment Bank confronted two great threats, the climate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, even as the challenges posed by development grew more urgent. The EU bank tackled these hazards by thinking hard and moving fast — in new directions.

That might mean investing in an innovative company. Or creating an innovative financial tool to bridge the crisis period for firms that were healthy before the pandemic hit. But the first thought was always how to go at it in a different, more effective way — how to lay a new path that leads to a sustainable, green, inclusive future.

This report highlights our emergency response to COVID-19 through the unique European Guarantee Fund, as well as our support for healthcare companies working on cures and therapies for the disease. It illustrates the dimensions of our backing for companies that are forging new frontiers of climate action — sometimes right into outer space. It demonstrates our commitment to a better future for all Europeans in our cohesion investment and for all global citizens through our development work.

Innovation is the framework of the future. In its three main sections, this report lays out the kind of future we aim to build. It will be a healthy world. A green world. An inclusive world.

The rest of the report provides the context for these investments.From our president’s strategic thinking in the foreword to data on the Bank’s lending and borrowing and a look at the year ahead in the highlights of the Group Operational Plan.

The report tells the story of a crucial financial institution whose ambition is to help solve the problems we face now — inspired by a vision of a healthy, green, inclusive future.

The European Investment Bank Group has been on the frontline of the European Union’s global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have responded to exceptional times with immediate and flexible action. From emergency support for small and medium-sized enterprises and innovative start-ups to financing for vaccines and public sector health projects, we have delivered.

The EIB Group has unlocked investment in a situation of extreme uncertainty. Our European Guarantee Fund has ensured open credit channels for many projects that seemed too risky for commercial banks in the midst of the crisis. Our economic research shows that this support has been instrumental in saving companies from severe cuts in investment. Instead, they have been able to proceed with investment in, for example, the digitalisation that allowed them to adapt to the crisis. Our massive financing for life sciences and health, which could hardly be more crucial right now, includes some projects backed by these instruments.

Looking ahead, we are determined to continue to use risk-sharing instruments, applying the logic of this powerful tool to other projects with high social and economic value added.