The Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Rania A. Al-Mashat, emphasized this message during her meeting with officials from the International Finance Corporation, including Managing Director and Executive Vice President, Makhtar Diop, and Mr. Sérgio Pimenta, Regional Vice President for Africa at IFC, to promote innovative approaches to finance development and enhance the role of the private sector in Egypt’s economy.

During the meeting, the Minister referred to the distinguished partnership between Egypt and the International Finance Corporation, which includes stories of partnership success that can be replicated elsewhere. The partnership is based on a comprehensive and forward-looking approach that tailors existing blended finance structures to local contexts. To strengthen Egypt’s economic, technical and climate cooperation with international financial institutions, the Minister added that the current development finance portfolio of the IFC amounts to $1.26 billion across several sectors, including financial markets, agribusiness, education, health, manufacturing, tourism, retail, construction and mining. This is in addition to a technical support portfolio directed to many vital sectors such as the environment, transportation, textiles, trade and services, worth a total of $30 million. Known to be a story of partnership success, the Minister referred to the role of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in unlocking investment opportunities for the private sector, particularly in regards to green transformation, adding the IFC HAS invested about $653 million in the Benban Solar Park in Aswan, which is one of the largest projects of its kind in the region that includes contributions from the private sector. The power plants will generate up to 752 megawatts of solar power, supplying Egypt with clean, renewable energy and contributing to energy security in the region, and is expected to provide cost-effective and eco-friendly power to over 350,000 residential customers and generate up to 6,000 jobs during construction. Egypt was also the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to issue green bonds last year worth USD 750 million, and the government is seeking to issue more green bonds during 2022. In light of Egypt’s presidency at COP27, the Minister added that the Ministry of International Cooperation has been in close cooperation with the IFC to explore potential areas of green cooperation. She referred to previous meetings with IFC Egypt, which included HE Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group. During these meetings, the IFC showed high interest in participating in COP27 through better engagement of private sector and to scale up private sector financing in the financial sector for climate mitigation and adaptation projects in line with Nationally determined contributions (NDC) targets, while aiming for a reduction of coal exposure to close to zero and mitigating the climate risks faced by financial institutions. In preparation for the COP27 conference, the IFC is expected to provide support on 3 fronts: support from the IFC global team for the conference, holding of technical events on the periphery by the IFC Egypt team, as well as providing advisory services. The IFC is also planning on organising a series of events to launch a pipeline of IFC’s climate-related projects, including 30 by 30 Zero Program. The program’s objectives are: i) Increasing to reach 2.5% by 2027 ii) Decreasing coal exposure of participating banks to close to zero by 2030 while implementing climate risk management practices. iii) Facilitating at least USD 250mn climate finance commitments by IFC with banks in Egypt by 2027 and iv) Facilitating at least USD 150mn climate thematic bonds issuance by Egyptian corporates by 2027. The Minister noted that to promote faster economic growth it is vital to get all stakeholders into alignment through one common framework. “We must all think, work, finance and deliver through a common narrative and framework to promote innovative forms of financing and mobilize private sector resources.” For his part, Makhtar Diop, Managing Director and Executive Vice President, affirmed that Egypt is equally committed to promoting private sector-led growth and a green economy, and that the IFC's cooperation with Egypt played a major role in unlocking opportunities for the private sector. The Ministry of International Cooperation’s 2021 annual report, which was issued under the title "Engaging for Impact Towards Our Common Future", revealed that development financing in 2021 totaled 10.2 billion dollars, including $248 million from the International Finance Corporation, which includes $100 million in green bonds.