• “37% of public investments in the 2024/2025 fiscal year are allocated to sustainable infrastructure.”
• “Financing opportunities are provided to both the public and private sectors to enhance urban sustainability through various projects, including metro systems, dry ports, the Green Cities Program, and the Social Housing Program.”
• “International partnerships have strengthened the country’s urban development efforts across multiple sectors.”
• “Egypt’s hosting of the World Urban Forum reflects its pivotal role in advancing international and multilateral cooperation.”
H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, participated in a discussion titled “Financing Sustainable Urban Development for All” during the third day of the 12th World Urban Forum in Cairo. The forum, held under the patronage of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, is taking place from November 4 to 8, 2024. Other participants in the session included Engineer Sherif Al-Shorbany, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, Major General Engineer Ahmed Al-Azazi, Head of the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces, Engineer Khaled Abbas, Chairman and CEO of the New Administrative Capital Development Company (ACUD), and Engineer Hisham Talaat Mostafa, CEO of Talaat Mostafa Group.
In her opening remarks, H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat emphasized that Egypt’s hosting of the World Urban Forum, two years after it hosted the COP27 climate conference, highlights the country’s commitment to international cooperation and multilateral partnerships with all relevant international stakeholders. She also underscored the Ministry’s role in integrating international financing into the country’s developmental regions.
She stressed the importance of financing for development, noting various funding sources, including investment expenditure from the national plan. In the 2024/2025 fiscal year, approximately 37% of investments are allocated to infrastructure, 42% to human development, and 20% to local government initiatives. This allocation reflects the government’s focus on urban development through investment in roads, transportation networks, and sustainable transit, all aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030.
H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat also highlighted the Ministry’s efforts to achieve integration between domestic resources and external financing to drive development. The Ministry is working to attract external financing and concessional, low-cost funding, such as its collaboration with the World Bank in the Upper Egypt Development Program, the comprehensive Social Housing Program, and the dry ports projects in 6th of October and 10th of Ramadan. These initiatives are supported by private sector financing through concessional loans, which gives a unique dimension to Egypt’s cities, helping attract both local and foreign investments.
H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat also pointed to the importance of water projects in these cities, mentioning the funding for the Al-Jabal Al-Asfar Water Plant from the African Development Bank and the Bahr El-Baqar Water Plant, which plays a crucial role in agricultural development.
She affirmed that financing from various international institutions is a key approach to bridging the investment expenditure gap. She highlighted blended finance as a method where the private sector balances financing from commercial banks and international financing institutions. This approach is particularly evident in renewable energy projects, such as the Ras Hekma project. She also mentioned debt swaps as an innovative financing tool, where such projects diversify funding sources to support urban development. These initiatives help ease financial pressures on developing countries and emerging economies, enabling them to implement their development plans.
H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat also referenced Egypt’s participation in the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, scheduled for June in Seville, Spain, stressing its importance in discussing pressing issues related to global development efforts. She reaffirmed the need to expand financing for development to support emerging nations.