Egypt’s President El-Sisi made his remarks on Tuesday during the opening ceremony of the 58th Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the 49th Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund that are taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh under the theme “Mobilizing Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has called on multilateral financial institutions to reconsider the criteria and conditions that qualify countries to obtain soft loans, so that they could be available to low- and middle-income countries alike, especially in light of the escalating cost of borrowing, and the increase in debt service burdens.
He also referred to the urgent global challenges and their profound impact on the African continent, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. “Africa needs unconventional ideas and financing solutions to address pressing issues such as climate change and sustainable development”, said El-Sisi.
“Africa requires $200 billion annually to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), $144 billion annually to address the repercussions of COVID-19, and $108 billion annually to fund infrastructure development projects.”, he added.
Accordingly, the African continent needs nearly $3 trillion through 2030 to address climate change impacts, including drought, desertification, and declining agricultural yield.
He added that estimates indicate that the risks associated with drought only, in the countries of the African continent, have led to losses exceeding $70bn in addition to causing a reduction in the growth of the agricultural productivity of the continent by about 34%, which adds up, in Africa, to about $3trn in required financing.
The president underscored the crucial role of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in providing appropriate financing for African development while also mitigating its financial risk. He emphasized the importance of revising multilateral financial institutions’ lending criteria and conditions to enable countries to access soft loans (loans with little or no interest) that suit their economic realities.
President El-Sisi added that this scene was reflected more strongly in the economies of developing countries, especially the economies of the countries of the African continent, which are already suffering from several internal challenges that require unconventional ideas to search for financing solutions that contribute to advancing more projects, especially urgent in the areas of facing the challenges of climate change and sustainable development.
He referred to the size of some financing needs for the countries of the African continent, according to the estimates of the United Nations and the African Development Bank, reaching no less than $200bn annually to achieve the goals of sustainable development, and $144bn annually to address the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic, along with $108bn annually to finance projects to prepare and upgrade the level of infrastructure.
El-Sisi said: “Here the importance of these meetings, and the role of the African Development Bank, in providing appropriate financing solutions, to the needs of the countries of the continent that achieve the difficult equation, between providing the huge funds necessary to achieve development aspirations on the one hand, and reducing the risks of these funds on the other hand.”
He added that the problem of climate change and its negative repercussions is not limited to one country or a specific region, but rather an existential issue that should be at the top of the strategic priorities for all countries of the world.
President El-Sisi added that contrary to what some might think, the negative repercussions of climate change are increasing in the least developed countries, which is evident in the countries of the African continent, where these changes lead to high rates of drought, widening desertification, and a decline in agricultural crop productivity.
On the other hand, he also referred to the positive results of the outputs and recommendations of the United Nations climate summit COP27, which Egypt chaired last year, foremost of which is the agreement to establish a fund, dedicated to providing the necessary financing, to compensate for losses and damages, for countries affected by the climate crises, such as floods, droughts, and other weather disasters.
Furthermore, the Egyptian president emphasized the necessity of stimulating the private sector’s involvement in financing eco-friendly projects while maximizing clean energy sources.
