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CEB and Hémisphère sign a loan agreement to provide emergency accommodation for asylum-seekers
23 June 2017
PARIS – The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) and Hémisphère signed today a € 100 million loan agreement to finance emergency accommodation and reception facilities for asylum-seekers in France.
The project, which will be implemented by Adoma, a subsidiary of Société Nationale Immobilière (SNI), is part of a series of steps taken by the French government in order to provide housing to homeless persons, refugees and asylum-seekers.
The CEB loan will finance the acquisition and renovation of hotels in order to create emergency accommodation. It is expected that the programme to which the CEB is contributing funds will deliver over 10 000 places.
In addition to infrastructure facilities, the project will provide social support and assistance, including guidance concerning applications for long-term accommodation, seeking employment, and access to health services and education. Concerning asylum-seekers in particular, advisory services will be provided with regard to accessing the national reception scheme for asylum-seekers.
Signing on behalf of the CEB was Mr Rolf Wenzel, Governor of the Bank. Representing the group SNI and its fund management subsidiary Ampère Gestion was Mr Vincent Mahé, Secretary General of SNI and CEO of Ampère Gestion, and Ms Nathalie Caillard, Deputy CEO of Ampère Gestion. Adoma was represented at the signing ceremony by its Director General, Mr Jean-Paul Clément.
This is the second project financed by CEB and implemented by Adoma, the leading provider of supported housing in France. The first loan agreement worth € 100 million was signed in November 2015.
Following the signing ceremony, Governor Wenzel said: “We are delighted to be financing a project aimed at providing assistance to vulnerable population groups, which is one of the CEB’s priority sectors. This programme is targeting areas that are crucial when it comes to ensuring a decent standard of living, such as access to housing, health, education and social support, and is expected to reach thousands of persons in need. It will draw significantly on Adoma’s long-standing experience in social housing, and we are pleased to be renewing our co-operation with the SNI group in this area.”
Set up in 1956, the CEB (Council of Europe Development Bank) has 41 member states. Twenty-two Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries, forming the Bank's target countries, are listed among the member states. As a major instrument of the policy of solidarity in Europe, the Bank finances social projects by making available resources raised in conditions reflecting the quality of its rating (Aa1 with Moody's, outlook stable, AA+ with Standard & Poor's, outlook stable and AA+ with Fitch Ratings, outlook stable). It thus grants loans to its member states, and to financial institutions and local authorities in its member states for the financing of projects in the social sector, in accordance with its Articles of Agreement.