Page 6 - BB Energy Brochure

Chairman’s Message

folio by considering investment in other commodities.
In the Americas, our trading volumes have signifi-
cantly thrived, scoring 55% of the Group’s overall traded
volumes.

Meanwhile, global action on climate change remains
crucially important. The world is still treading on an un-
sustainable path and has yet to move steadily towards a
net-zero society. Doing so will require building a global
energy system capable of delivering affordable, secure
and increasingly clean energy. Establishing such a sus-
tainable ecosystem will require collaboration between
governments, businesses, academia and civil communi-
ties. Achieving all of that will be complex, but purposeful
companies need to get involved through their high-per-
forming business capacity to innovate and invest in re-
newables. At BB Energy, this is exactly what we do.

Our Group dutifully guards its role in transitioning
energy towards a low carbon future. In 2021, we estab-
lished a Carbon Trading Desk by hiring experienced pro-
Bahaeddine Bassatne fessionals and are significantly growing these activities.
Furthermore, we have acquired Solar Century Africa,
evaluating over 300 MW of projects and currently have a
As I was reflecting on this note, it crossed my mind pipeline of over 2 GW and have reached a financial close
that in my opening message of last year, I asked: What for Balama Graphite Mine in Mozambique.
surprises will 2022 bring to the world? Our hopes were
to keep viruses at bay, bring back normality and good Being a successful business goes together with taking
health, and slow down climate change. However, unfor- care of our people and supporting our society and the
tunately, we are now living in uncertain times because local communities where we operate. This was reflected
of the turmoil of the Russia/Ukraine war, which resulted by establishing “BB Energy Foundation” back in 2021,
in loss of life, record increase in oil and gas prices, global through which we contribute towards key social initia-
energy and commodity shortages, as well as troubling tives and deliver meaningful impacts such as education
humanitarian crisis. and health. For instance, we recently contributed to St
Paul’s Cathedral “Remember Me”, a memorial project
I believe BB Energy’s strategy gets the balance right. We for all those who have died as a result of the pandemic
are keeping our positive determination to maintain safe with special recognition given to NHS and social care
and secure supply of energy on which societies depend, workers. In education, we have founded “Department
while continuing to increase our footprint in renewables of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Energy” at the
and reducing carbon emissions. I am extremely proud of American University of Beirut (AUB), where students
our robust cadre of resolute and loyal forward-thinking learn to apply chemistry, physics, biology and math-
professional team, who have been adaptable and agile ematics to the process of converting raw materials of
in making the necessary adjustments to overcome the chemicals into valuable products. We are an active
challenges and ensuring that we persist to maintain our member of the British Lebanese Association where we
high performance in 2021 successfully. I am therefore have donated three-years’ scholarship for a PhD student;
pleased to report that we have increased our trading and have sponsored MBA students from the Middle East
volumes by 24% compared to 2020 fiscal year, reaching at Wharton School of Business and Babson School.
a total of 41 million tons and a turnover of US$21 billion BB Energy is working with ‘Right to Play’ - an interna-
dollars. tional non-profit organisation that empowers vulnera-
ble children to overcome the effects of war, poverty and
Throughout 2021, BB Energy continued to pursue its disease - to establish a project in Rwanda. In addition,
growth strategy in trading across Africa, Latin America the Group has been a long-time supporter of the arts
and Asia Pacific, including China. We have also expanded such as The Royal Opera House.
our investment in downstream by opening 10 new retail
stations in Morocco under our brand “Société Pétrolière”. I would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere
In addition, we are diversifying our commodities port- thanks and gratitude to our long-term Partners for their

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