Majid Al Futtaim Retail, Standard Chartered launch region’s first Sustainable Supply Chain Finance Programme
Majid Al Futtaim Retail, operator of the Carrefour franchise in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and Standard Chartered Bank have launched the region’s first Sustainable Supply Chain Finance programme.
The innovative solution, designed by Standard Chartered Bank, enables Majid Al Futtaim Retail to incentivise its supplier partners to improve their sustainability performance and indicators, and address key Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks within the supply chain.
Together, Majid Al Futtaim Retail and Standard Chartered Bank will work with a diverse range of Carrefour’s most active suppliers in the UAE to introduce a pilot programme ahead of the official programme launch, covering a wide range of categories offered at Carrefour.
Reiterating Majid Al Futtaim’s commitment to sustainability, this new programme will incentivise suppliers that meet sustainability criteria such as using energy-efficient equipment, employing fuel efficient vehicles and minimising landfill waste with favourable financing terms. This programme, which is the first of its kind in the region will further the company’s commitment to supporting local economies, producers and suppliers across the markets that it serves from whom it sources more than 80% of its products.
Commenting on this pioneering sustainable programme, Hani Weiss, Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim Retail said, “Today’s announcement is a great moment for Majid Al Futtaim, as it combines two core aspects of our extended responsibilities to the communities we operate in together supporting our suppliers and driving our sustainability agenda. We regard our suppliers as partners, working together to achieve the triple win, for them, us and of course, our customers. Through this innovative programme, we are not only supporting our supplier partners, moreover, we are also introducing and incentivising them to adopt sustainable practices within their operations”.
“We are pleased to launch this bespoke programme with one of our leading clients in the UAE. This sustainable solution goes hand in hand with our sustainability agenda and sets a key milestone for the role of the private sector in the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 strategic initiative,” added Rola Abu Manneh, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered UAE.
The Sustainable Supply Chain Financing programme builds on previous successful partnerships between Majid Al Futtaim and Standard Chartered, including its Supplier Finance Programme, which was launched in the UAE in 2019 in an effort to support local suppliers with financing, Majid Al Futtaim’s first sustainability linked loan, in addition to a number of green bond and sukuk