The Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA) has announced new partnerships with the governments of the UAE and Bahrain to expand its industrial decarbonization initiatives throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Zawya Reported.
According to the report, This marks the ITA’s second focus region after the success of its Brazil program, launched in collaboration with Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services in July of this year.
Given that the industrial sector contributes about 40% of the MENA region’s GDP—much higher than the world average of 26%—and that the MENA region has strong support for both conventional and renewable energy generation, MENA stands in a unique position to assume global leadership in the decarbonization of heavy industry.
The ITA is expecting to collaborate with regional governments, industry leaders, and financial institutions to bolster the investment case for Mena’s emerging green industries, mobilising the critical capital needed for the advancement of regional and global decarbonisation efforts.
As per the Bahrain News Agency, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, COP28 President, and ITA Co-Chair commented, “The ITA’s analysis, using the Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) Global Project Tracker shows a pipeline of announced green industrial projects in the MENA region. These projects are awaiting billions of dollars of investment to start the production of green commodities but require a stronger demand signal from the market to give businesses and investors the confidence to act.”
Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Bahrain, reaffirming their commitment towards sustainable manufacturing, said: “We are delighted to be the first partner to join the ITA and the UAE in the MENA Project Support Programme in this critical initiative to expand green industry in the region. The opportunities are vast and exciting, and the need to advance this industry is urgent to accelerate our efforts to achieve carbon neutrality.”
The ITA is working to identify and support large-scale industrial projects that can be accelerated toward FID by 2026 and operational by 2030.
EMSteel, Emirates Global Aluminium, and Arabian Gulf Steel Industries are the companies from the UAE to first sign formal agreements to work with the ITA as part of the MENA programme.
Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, Group CEO of EMSTEEL, said: “As one of the largest publicly traded steel and building materials manufacturers in the region, we are honored to be working with the ITA to accelerate the decarbonization of heavy industries in the UAE and beyond.”
Asam Hussain, CEO of AGSI, also commented that as a signatory to the ITA and the world’s first carbon-neutral steel plant, their company is excited to see the opportunities for advancing net-zero goals in the MENA region.
ITA says that they will offer practical, customized implementation support directly on the ground to help advance the project pipeline in the MENA region.