● The “Kom Ombo” solar power plant project in Aswan, within the “NWFE” program, won the “Energy Transition Deal of the Year in Africa” award at the 2023 Infrastructure Journal Global Awards.
● We are moving forward in strengthening the partnership between development partners and the private sector through the Private Sector Engagement Portal: Hub for Advisory, Finance & Investment for Enterprises.
● Structural reforms in the energy sector since 2014 have contributed to stimulating the private sector and enhancing the participation of development partners in financing renewable energy projects.
Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), applauded the efforts made between the EBRD, one of the largest development partners financing the private sector in Egypt, and various private sector companies, in a way that enhances support for national development priorities, especially in priority areas.
This came against the backdrop of ACWA Power’s financing to launch the largest solar energy station for the private sector in Egypt in the city of Kom Ombo in Aswan, valued at $114 million, winning t“Energy Transition Deal of the Year in Africa” award at the 2023 Infrastructure Journal Global Awards.
The Minister explained that these efforts come in response to the structural reforms undertaken by the Egyptian state in the energy sector since 2014, which stimulated the participation of the private sector in the implementation of major projects, enabled it to expand the implementation of renewable energy projects, and also contributed to stimulating multiple development partners,, bilaterals and international partners to finance these projects through concessional development financing and technical support, to achieve the state’s goals regarding increasing the proportion of renewable energy.
She pointed to the many successful partnership models between development partners and major private sector companies, especially in the renewable energy sector, including the implementation of the Benban solar energy complex in Aswan, which is one of the largest projects in the region and the world with a capacity of 2000 megawatts, where development partners, including the EBRD, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), funded 11 private sector companies contributing to the implementation of the project.
The Minister affirmed moving forward with the efforts made with development partners to achieve more empowerment of the private sector, and to achieve a link between the financial and non-financial services they provide and the needs of private sector companies in Egypt, through the Private Sector Engagement Portal: Hub for Advisory, Finance & Investment for Enterprises, the first platform of its kind that works to bridge the information gap, and provides all the details about the services provided by development partners to the private sector, whether large, small or medium companies, as well as emerging companies.
In this regard, the Ministry, in coordination with national entities and the EBRD, is working to mobilize concessional development financing, technical support and private sector investments, to implement the energy pillar within the “NWFE” program in order to implement renewable energy projects with a capacity of 10 gigawatts, to replace 10 thermal power plants with a capacity of 5 gigawatts, which reinforces Egypt’s move to move to renewable energy and implement its pledge to reach the percentage of renewable energy to 42% by 2030 instead of 2035.
It is worth noting that since 2012, when Egypt turned into a country of full operations with the EBRD, which contributed to the increase in the volume of investments for the government and private sectors to more than €12 billion in 174 projects, more than 80% of those funds were directed to the private sector.
The Egyptian private sector attracted $10.3 billion in development financing from multilateral and bilateral development partners, during the period from 2020 to 2023, in the form of development financing, contributions to corporate capital, technical support, and indirect financing through business accelerators.