JOHANNESBURG, May 30 (Reuters) - South Africa's Standard Bank Group (SBKJ.J) funded renewable energy projects worth 55 billion rand ($2.79 billion) in 2022, exceeding its green financing target and putting it ahead of the world's top lenders, it said on Tuesday. Africa's biggest lender by assets earmarked 40 billion rand for sustainable projects last year, Kenny Fihla, its chief executive for Corporate and Investment Banking, said in slides prepared for journalists. However, in October he pegged that target at 50 billion rand. Standard Bank has been regularly criticised by environmental advocates and activist investors for funding climate-polluting hydrocarbon assets on the continent. "Our financing of renewable energy is 439% greater than our financing of non-renewable energy," Filha said, adding this achievement was significant when compared with the world's largest financiers.

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Persons: Kenny Fihla, TotalEnergies, Filha, Anait Miridzhanian, Promit Mukherjee, Emelia Organizations: Standard Bank, Corporate, Investment Banking, Bank, Oil Pipeline, Absa, Thomson Locations: JOHANNESBURG, Mozambique, South Africa