The Ministry of Finance has recently released a statement revealing that Egypt will be representing Africa at the upcoming eighth annual meetings of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh from September 25-26.
Being a founding member of the AIIB, Egypt is committed to promoting the Africa-Asia partnership in order to achieve sustainable development goals and provide better services to its citizens while improving their livelihoods. The Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, stated this at a recent conference.
Egypt’s efforts toward sustainable development are expected to benefit from the AIIB’s increased focus on climate financing.
The bank’s goal is to allocate half of its investments to climate action by 2025, which Egypt hopes to leverage for its own sustainable development initiatives. At a press conference, the Environment Minister, Yasmine Fouad, highlighted the AIIB’s concessional loans for renewable energy, low-carbon transport, water and sanitation, and ecosystem protection. She opined that these loans can significantly increase Egypt’s fiscal capacity for green projects and help the country achieve its climate change goals as outlined in the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Ahmed Kouchouk, the Deputy Minister of Finance for Fiscal Policies and Egypt’s AIIB Executive Director, emphasized the need for stronger cooperation to build a more resilient global financial system and bridge financing gaps that have arisen due to health and economic crises in emerging economies. He called for more development cooperation between Egypt and the AIIB, with a focus on key joint areas that align with Egypt’s vision of private sector support for growth and sustainable development.
Egypt’s aim is to leverage AIIB financing windows over the next few years to mobilize much-needed funding for large-scale renewable and clean transport projects across the country. The AIIB has already disbursed $1.3 billion for infrastructure projects in Egypt, including $300 million in water management, $360 million to fund the budget deficit, $210 million to finance 11 private companies in the renewable energy sector, and a credit line of $150 million for the National Bank of Egypt. Since the beginning of 2023, Egypt has secured $2.1 billion in concessional financing to the private sector from international partners. In 2022, the country secured development financing worth $13.7 billion to support national development objectives, with $2.6 billion dedicated to the private sector.
