Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation and the African Development Bank (AfDB) launched on Thursday the New Country strategy 2022-2026 on the sidelines of the Egypt-International Cooperation Forum (Egypt-ICF 2022). The launching ceremony witnessed the participation of Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, Kevin Orama, Vice President of the African Development Bank for Economic Governance and Knowledge, Sherif El-Gabali, Member of the House of Representatives and Vice-Chairperson of the African Affairs Committee, and Kevin Kariuki, Vice President of the African Development Bank for Energy and Green Growth. The AfDB's Board of Directors approved the strategy in June, which is a result of an inclusive decision-making process and close collaboration with a variety of stakeholders led by the Ministry of International Cooperation, including Egyptian authorities, development partners, the private sector, and civil society. Understanding more deeply the national policy context, the new country strategy builds on the achievements and lessons learned from previous strategies and enhances the cooperation between the Bank and Government of Egypt over five years. The main objectives of the CSP 2022-2026 with the African Development Bank are gender-responsive climate action, improved climate-smart agriculture practices and increased renewable energy generation capacity. "At the outset, I am pleased to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of you here today to celebrate the launch of the new Egypt's AfDB Country Strategy Paper 2022-2026. The African Development Bank has been and will continue to be one of Egypt's key partners as it plays an important role in pioneering South-South cooperation and in advancing regional sustainable development. Indisputably, Africa is extravagant in natural resources and skills, and when sufficiently and effectively harnessed, pave the path to an inclusively prosperous Africa underpinned by our development agenda – Africa 2063. Egypt is working hard to overcome long-standing barriers to sustainable development in Africa, and our strategic partnership with AFDB is a key pillar to achieve that goal", said Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat. The minister added that Egypt has been a founding member of the AfDB since 1964, adding that the Bank has contributed to financing development projects in all sectors through concessional loans, grants, and technical assistance. "Currently, Egypt's total portfolio with the AfDB accounts for more than US$ 6.73 Billion, across 110 operations, with around US$1 billion for 19 private sector operations in key sectors including manufacturing, financial sector, transportation, water, and agriculture," the minister said. "The CSP represents the priority of implementing the AfDB's High Fives and the UN SDGs in a way that achieves our shared priorities as previously stated. To guarantee effective implementation of such a strategy and realise the objective of the targeted priority areas, the Government of Egypt has worked jointly with the AfDB on including an indicative list of pipeline projects covering various development sectors such as water supply and sanitation, transport, industry, finance, energy and agriculture, in addition to supporting to non-sovereign operations specifically targeting private sector engagement," Al-Mashat added. In line with Egypt's 2030 vision, the new country strategy strikes a balance between the environmental and social dimensions of development. The Minister referred to the Decent Life (Haya Karima) presidential initiative, which aims to improve the lives of more than 50 million Egyptians in Egypt's countryside to provide essential services including transport, water and sanitation, as well as social housing. Underpinned by Egypt's 2050 Country Climate Strategy, a subset of adaptation and mitigation projects covering the Nexus of Water, Food and Energy was put together, reflecting the interlinkages between climate action and development efforts. The Ministry of International Cooperation (MOIC) launched Egypt's Country Platform for NWFE نُوَفِّي program, which provides opportunities for mobilizing finance and private investments to support Egypt's green transition. Kevin Kariuki, Vice President of the African Development Bank for Energy, Climate and Green Growth, said that the new strategy between Egypt and the African Development Bank is in line with the Bank's climate strategy, as it enhances efforts to strike a balance between development and climate action. He added that the Bank is exploring opportunities to support the Egypt Country Platform for NWFE in the water and energy pillars to build resilience and achieve sustainability. This year's Egypt-ICF and the Meeting of African Ministers of Economy, Finance and Environment, will provide a platform for governments, multilateral and bilateral development partners, philanthropic foundations, private sector, think tanks, and civil society to consider the challenges the continent is offset by and explore avenues to overcome them. The Forum's overall objectives include mobilization of, and access to finance, to mobilize financing and catalyze private sector investments, focused on developing countries and Africa; financing climate action, adaptation and mitigation to leverage the necessary public and private support to accelerate climate action; and providing a timely platform to explore needed national actions that would help progress towards a just and green transition.
