Dubai, United Arab Emirates: RFI Foundation is excited to announce a competition to find technology companies working on the blue economy whose products can be used by financial institutions to increase their financing of the blue economy. This open innovation challenge aims to identify innovative solutions that can help financial institutions support sustainable economic growth in coastal communities and protect marine ecosystems.
"The blue economy contributes at least $100 billion to the economy of the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey and the financial system is a critical part of increasing that over time in a sustainable manner," said Blake Goud, CEO of RFI Foundation. "We expect that the Blue Finance Challenge will be a first step towards enabling financial sector institutions to channel more finance towards critical ‘blue economy’ sectors"
“We believe that technology is instrumental in supporting financial institutions’ ability to invest in sustainable economic growth in coastal communities and marine ecosystems and ensure access to clean water,” said David Ramos, Acting Head of Sustainability - MENAT at HSBC. “We are excited to see what innovative FinTech solutions that companies will bring forward to enable more financing to flow to this critical part of the region’s economy.”
The competition is open to all FinTech companies working on the blue economy. Participants will be judged based on their ability to demonstrate how their products can be used by financial institutions to support sustainable economic growth in coastal communities while protecting marine ecosystems and supporting sustainable access to fresh water across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT).
All finalists selected in the open innovation challenge will have the opportunity to pitch their company in front of an audience of selected financial sector stakeholders in the MENAT region at an in-person event in the United Arab Emirates. Applications are open until 2 June 2023.
For more information about the competition and how to apply, please visit http://www.rfi-foundation.org/blue-finance-challenge.
Media enquiries to:
HSBC Bank Middle East:
Will Blair
will.blair@hsbc.com
RFI Foundation:
Blake Goud blake.goud@rfi-foundation.org
Sylvia Kezengwa sylvia.kezengwa@rfi-foundation.org
About the RFI Foundation
The Responsible Finance & Investment (RFI) Foundation, established in 2015, is the first nonprofit organisation principally dedicated to connecting the responsible finance and Islamic finance markets. RFI Foundation is a catalyst that enables financial sector development based on universal principles from responsible and Islamic finance. The RFI Foundation vision is a future where all financial markets are guided by equitable, inclusive and sustainable economic development practices.
HSBC in the MENAT region
HSBC is the largest and most widely represented international banking organisation in the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT), with a presence in nine countries across the region: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates. In Saudi Arabia, HSBC is a 31% shareholder of Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB), and a 51% shareholder of HSBC Saudi Arabia for investment banking in the Kingdom. Across MENAT, HSBC had assets of US$71bn as at 31 December 2022.
More information about the GVI Hub’s Responsible Finance FinTech program is available at: https://www.rfi-foundation.org/global-virtual-innovation-hub
