The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat announced that in 2022, $13.7 billion was secured to support Egypt’s national development objectives. This included $11.1 billion directed to sovereign projects across various economic activities and $2.6 billion for the private sector.
Al-Mashat explained that the $11 billion included $2.4 billion for budget support to be disbursed by June 2023 and directed to expanding social spending including food security, universal health insurance, and social protection programs. The Minister also underscores that the $2.6 billion financing to the private sector was secured through cooperation with many development partners, including International Finance Corporation (IFC), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), European Union (EU) and many others.
The full details of the aforementioned development financing will be announced in the Ministry of International Cooperation’s 2022 Annual Report.
These remarks came during the Minister’s participation in the “Challenges Facing the Global Economy” within the activities of the “People and Banks” conferences organized by the Arab Media Association. This was alongside the participation of Minister of Tourism and Antiquities H.E. Ahmed Issa, Chairman of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) Hisham Okasha, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member, Qatar National Bank Al Ahli (QNB AA) Mohamed Bedeir, Chairman of the Commodity Exchange (Egycomex) Ibrahim Ashmawy, and Chairman of the Arab Media Association Dr. Mostafa El Feki, among many other representatives from the banking and financial sectors.
In her speech, Al-Mashat explained that the strong relationship Egypt enjoys with development partners, both bilateral and multilateral, has allowed the expansion of development finance to the private sector including through Egypt’s banking sector.
The Minister added that despite successive challenges the world has witnessed since 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic, social and health repercussions, followed by the Russian-Ukrainian crisis that led to an increased demand for concessional development finance by various countries and institutions, Egypt has still been able to spotlight strong relations with its multilateral and bilateral development partners, mobilizing the necessary financing to support the country’s development efforts, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Al-Mashat stated that Egypt has historical relations, whether with multilateral development partners such as the World Bank Group (WBG), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the African Development Bank (AfDB), or with bilateral development partners such as the United States of America (USA), Japan, China, and others. The Ministry of International Cooperation is committed to supporting projects to enhance Egypt’s acceleration of sustainable development, as well as rolling out ambitious strategies to stimulate development cooperation with all its partners.
The Minister also elaborated on the existing cooperation with development partners regarding the provision of green financing, both to public and private sectors, to promote a comprehensive and sustainable development.
Al-Mashat added that the Ministry of International Cooperation monitors and follows-up on development finance, provides an interactive map to match official development assistance (ODA) to the SDGs, enhancing governance and transparency in terms of how citizens are benefiting.
Moreover, the minister referred to Egypt’s Country Platform for the NWFE Program, a nexus of water, food and energy projects, under the umbrella of the National Strategy for Climate Change 2050, aiming to mobilize finance and technical support in the implementation of green projects, as well as increasing private sector engagement in development efforts.
Al-Mashat discussed the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing”, launched at COP27, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders; governments, private sector, multilateral and bilateral partners, investment and commercial banks, and philanthropic organizations, to establish principles and mechanisms that define just financing, creating a framework for developing and emerging economies to achieve their climate ambitions and green transition.
Through cooperation with the banking sector represented by the Egyptian Banking Institute, these principles and mechanisms can be disseminated among bankers, in light of the global interest in green finance and the importance of sustainability.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of International Cooperation secured development financing agreements in 2020 worth $9.8 billion, including $3.5 billion for the private sector. In 2021, the Ministry secured $10.2 billion, including $1.5 billion for the private sector.