Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat met with Country Manager of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Malinne Blomberg to discuss deepening their joint strategic partnership, a ministerial statement said on Saturday. The meeting focused on potential development projects and technical cooperation programmes, especially for human capital investment, the statement added. Currently, the AfDB's portfolio in Egypt is about $1.04bn, while the bank's total investments in the local market exceed $6.76bn in more than 100 projects, the statement explained. Main economic sectors of the AfDB are electricity, finance, water, and sanitation in addition to higher education, transportation, and economic reform support. Al-Mashat called on the AfDB to expand its financial support to Egypt's private sector, asserting the importance of deepening the cooperation with AfDB in line with the priorities of the governmental programme which pays special interest on the sustainable development goals. For her part, Blomberg praised the improvements of Egypt's economy, noting that the AfDB is keen on boosting its developmental partnership with Egypt over the next period, increasing the Bank's investments in the economic integration of Egyptian businesses with African countries.
