• The Minister of International Cooperation applauded the constructive relations between the Afreximbank and private sector institutions and the government sector in Egypt.
• Discussions on strengthening South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation and advancing food security efforts.
• Al-Mashat is looking into achieving integration between the Hub for Advisory, Finance & Investment for Enterprises platform and the efforts of the Afreximbank to the private sector in Egypt.
• The President of the Afreximbank confirms the pivotal partnership with Egypt and thanks the government for the great support in organizing the Intra-African Trade Fair held in Cairo.
The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat met with Benedict Oramah, President of the AfreximBank, at the headquarters of the Ministry of International Cooperation in the New Administrative Capital, where an expanded discussion session was held, in the presence of Kanayo Awani, Vice President of the Bank, and Ayman Elzoghby, Head of the Trade and Corporate Finance Sector, Hatem Al-Demerdash, Director of Consulting and Capital Markets, a number of bank officials, and the Ministry of International Cooperation team.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Minister of International Cooperation welcomed the President of the AfreximBank and his accompanying delegation, applauding the constructive relationship between Egyptian institutions at the level of the governmental and private sectors and the Bank, and the role it plays in supporting the business community and facilitating ways of trade exchange between the countries of the African continent, and providing financing for different sectors.
The meeting witnessed constructive discussions on enhancing cooperation with the African Export-Import Bank in advancing South-South cooperation and benefiting from development experiences in Egypt and Egyptian expertise in the field of international cooperation with other African countries, as well as discussing joint work in the field of food security and enhancing agricultural investment on the continent, in addition to various development fields, and discussing cooperation with the bank through the Hub for Advisory, Finance & Investment for Enterprises to achieve integration between the bank’s efforts to empower the private sector and the services and information the platform provides to achieve interconnection with development partners and the business community.
They also discussed the Hub for Advisory, Finance & Investment for Enterprises platform and the bank’s electronic Platform for Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC), which was launched during the activities of the third edition of the of the Intra-African Trade Fair held in Cairo, under the patronage of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Al-Mashat stressed the vital role played by development partners to finance the private sector and provide consulting and technical support services, as soft financing and contributions worth $10.3 billion were made available over the past four years.
During the meeting, Al-Mashat reviewed the framework of international cooperation and development financing, and the role that the Ministry plays within the framework of the country’s vision, to push the boundaries of cooperation with multilateral and bilateral development partners, the private sector, and civil society, in order to maximize the benefit from development financing, and ensure the consistency of development projects with national priorities in implementation of presidential directives, as well as improving development cooperation management for effective project implementation.
She stated that the Ministry of International Cooperation is working to strengthen the economic diplomacy of the Arab Republic of Egypt, by achieving compatibility between strategies with development partners and the country’s strategic priorities, stimulating private sector participation through constructive partnerships with international institutions, enhancing technical support efforts, exchanging experiences, and effective follow-up of projects that are implemented with development partners, and coordination between development partners, regional and international organizations, UN agencies, and beneficiaries of partnerships represented by ministries, government agencies, universities, research centers, the private sector, and civil society.
H.E. noted that the principles governing the effectiveness of international cooperation are country ownership by ensuring that development projects are consistent with development priorities and goals, comprehensive partnerships, focus on results, transparency and mutual accountability, explaining that the Ministry is working to translate national strategies into international projects and partnerships consistent with Egypt’s Vision 2030 , the National Climate Change Strategy 2050, and the government programme, as well as the Sustainable Energy Strategy, the National Strategy for Women’s Empowerment, the Decent Life Initiative, and other national initiatives and strategies.
The Minister pointed to the measures that have been taken to enhance the effectiveness of development cooperation, by mapping development financing with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (ODA SDG Mapping), in addition to launching the electronic system for data management and follow-up of concessional development financing projects, which is a mechanism for linking and unifying data related to development cooperation agreements, projects and programmes, with development partners, in order to ensure the availability of relevant information at all levels between the Ministry and all national entities, thus enhancing their role in the monitoring and evaluation process and supporting decision-making.
For his part, the President of the Afreximbank thanked the Minister of International Cooperation for the warm reception. He also emphasized the bank’s pivotal relationship with the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the great support that the bank receives from the government, especially in hosting the Intra-African Trade Fair in last year’s edition. He also stressed the importance of the meeting in exploring areas of cooperation of common interest with the Ministry of International Cooperation.
He explained that the bank has an extended relationship with Egyptian institutions at the governmental and private levels, as the bank provided financing worth $30 billion over the past five years, including $16 billion for the financial sector, pointing out that these financings strengthened the ability of Egyptian companies to expand their business on the African continent.