● Al-Mashat calls for a review of financing to reduce burdens on middle-income and least developed countries.
● Minister of International Cooperation: Expanding risk reduction tools is a necessity to ensure increased private sector investment and ensure that finance reach developing countries.
● Minister of International Cooperation: The World Bank is one of Egypt's main development partners, and the new Country Partnership Framework strengthens efforts to empower the private sector.
The Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the World Bank Group H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, said that mobilizing resources from various relevant parties to finance climate change has become crucial, in order to face global challenges. H.E. pointed out that despite the challenges posed by climate change, financing is still at levels less than required, which highlights the need for innovative financing mechanisms.
This came during H.E.’s participation in the discussion session held during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings 2023 in Washington, on "Measure, Manage, Magnify: The Role of Public and Private Finance Institutions in Maximizing Climate Finance", where the session discussed the climate financing scene and practical solutions to bridge the financing gap, and the role of the World Bank in ongoing discussions to support efforts to mobilize resources and unleash the private sector to participate in climate finance.
Many officials of international financing institutions participated in the discussion session, including Amina J. Mohamed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the Commission on Sustainable Development, Axel van Trotsenburg, the World Bank's Senior Managing Director, and Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Executive Director for Arab States at the IMF and Climate Pioneer of Egypt’s COP27 Presidency, among others.
The Minister spoke about Egypt's efforts to mobilize various financing mechanisms through multilateral cooperation with multilateral and bilateral development partners, the private sector, philanthropic organizations and civil society, noting that the expansion of risk reduction tools is necessary to ensure increased private sector investment and ensure that funds reach countries.
Moreover, Al-Mashat called for the need to reconsider the financing and burdens on middle-income and least developed countries. Al-Mashat also reviewed the experience of launching the country platform for the nexus of water, food and energy (NWFE Program), which promote green transformation efforts, reduce emissions, enhance resilience in climate changes, and develop the infrastructure for climate financing, through a partnership-based approach. H.E. pointed out that the projects to be implemented promote renewable energy including traditional power plants to generate 10 gigawatts of renewable energy, the establishment of 5 water desalination plants using renewable energy, the modernization of irrigation systems, and early warning systems.
In a related context, the Minister participated in a panel discussion on "The Power of Private Capital in Sustainable Development", with. David Malpass, President of the World Bank; José Viñals, Group Chairman, Standard Chartered PLC; Anshula Kant; Managing Director and World Bank Group Chief Financial Officer; Julie Monaco, Managing Director, Citi; and Rosalia V. De Leon, Treasurer of the Philippines.
The Minister said that the evolution road map for the development of the World Bank is a milestone in the history of the bank in supporting development efforts worldwide, explaining that Egypt is a major partner of the bank, and it also has strong relations with all other multilateral development banks such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Al-Mashat explained that each of the multilateral development banks has its comparative advantages and mechanisms to support development efforts. However, the discussions taking place at this time must take into account the importance of complementarity between all multilateral development banks in order to unify efforts in facing climate change.
The Minister spoke about the new Country Partnership Framework between Egypt and the World Bank Group 2023-2027 for the next five years, which was approved in March, after a series of consultations with the World Bank and national entities. H.E. added that the new strategy is based on national priorities and strategies and focuses on three main pillars: enhancing investment in human capital, enabling partnerships with the private sector, and enhancing resilience.
She noted that the already existing partnership with the World Bank has achieved impressive results in many areas such as social protection, and the new partnership for the next five years will enhance joint efforts in various fields of development, in line with Egypt’s development agenda.
H.E. stated that Egypt hosted COP27 where climate action has become of paramount importance to all countries of the world, in addition to issues such as just financing and the interrelationship between climate and development. The Minister noted that Egypt has made efforts to enable the private sector to play its role in development, as it was the first country to issue green bonds worth $750 million, to finance environmentally friendly projects, which motivated the private sector to issue green bonds in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Under the theme “The Way Forward: Building Resilience and Reshaping Development,” Al-Mashat is participating in the World Bank & IMF Spring Meetings, along with the participation of central bank governors, finance ministers, development partners, senior officials from the private sector, philanthropic organizations and academic, to discuss issues of global concern.