Al-Mashat: 80% of EBRD’s Investments in Egypt Support Private Sector

Minister of International Cooperation and Egypt's Governor at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Dr. Rania Al-Mashat said Egypt supports the new EBRD strategy for 2021-2025 with an ambitious plan to expand its climate investments and become a majority green bank by 2025.

Al-Mashat praised the strategic partnership between Egypt and ERBD, explaining that the bank’s investments last year amounted to around €1.2 billion in 23 projects, of which 80% were for the private sector, which reflects the role played by the Ministry of International Cooperation to coordinate with multiple development partners and bilateral partners to strengthen economic cooperation and support the private sector as well as civil society.

She added that investments focus on meeting the targets of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, which also reflect the state's development priorities, namely environmental sustainability, renewable energy, infrastructure, small and medium enterprises, as well as women's economic empowerment.

Al-Mashat said that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that international cooperation delivers impactful results for the development of Egypt, referring to the positive economic indicators for Egypt despite the woes of the pandemic, as the bank’s recent report revealed that it is expected to grow by 2% in 2020 and rise to 5% next year, making it the only economy in the region to escape a recession for this year.

There are still countless of opportunities to capture the silver lining amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as Egypt provides for ERBD the gateway to a large potential market in Africa to support infrastructure financing and accelerate recovery.

Overall, EBRD has invested more than €6.5 billion in more than 116 projects in Egypt in various sectors, the most important of which are infrastructure, small and medium enterprises, and renewable energy.

Egypt was chosen as the top investment market for the second year in a row for 2021-2025, based on three objectives: reducing carbon emissions to promote environmental sustainability, promote equal opportunities for women, and digital transformation.