Al-Mashat Holds Bilateral Discussions with AfDB President

The Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, held a bilateral discussion with the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, as part of the bank’s 58th annual meetings, which concluded yesterday in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The meeting took place in the presence of the Vice President of the AfDB, Kevin Kariuki, the Regional Director for North Africa, Mohamed El-Azizi, the Country Director of the Egypt Office, Abdel-Rahman Diaw and heads of the AfDB, along with the Head of the Cooperation Sector with the United Nations and International Multilateral Finance Institutions at the Ministry of International Cooperation, Mohamed Abdel-Gawad and the Assistant Minister for International Cooperation in charge of cooperation with the Americas and Europe, Sherihan Bakhit, and the Advisor to the Minister of International Cooperation for Asian Affairs, Ambassador Abu Bakr Mahmoud.

At the outset of the meeting, Al-Mashat welcomed the AfDB President, the bank's leaders and governors, in the city of peace, Sharm El-Sheikh, highlighting Egypt’s appreciation for its partnership with all multilateral and bilateral development partners, in light of its endeavor to enhance cooperation to achieve the 2030 development vision and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Al-Mashat expressed her appreciation for the efforts made by the bank to enhance development efforts in Egypt, especially the guarantee that was announced by the United Kingdom to support the bank's projects on the continent to promote climate action, and the selection of the Gabal Al-Asfar Wastewater Treatment Plant project as the first to benefit from the guarantee in the continent. 

This is an example of constructive development and an affirmation of the leadership of the development projects implemented by Egypt and their impact on people, reflecting the focus of Adesina's speech in the opening session of the annual meetings where he referred to the NWFE program.

This followed his announcement of increasing the funds available for the water pillar in the program to about $2.2 billion, reflecting the importance of partnership between the two sides, and the importance of the Nexus for Water, Food and Energy platform as a regional and international model and approach to stimulating the transition to a green economy.

Al-Mashat said that through the meetings and discussions that took place during the bank's annual meetings, many African countries expressed their interest in Egypt's experience in launching their own NWFE based on state ownership and priorities to stimulate just climate financing, and mobilize blended financing and investments to promote green transformation.

 She stressed Egypt's keenness to exchange expertise and experiences with countries across the continent through cooperation with development partners, especially the AfDB.

Moreover, she explained that the AfDB is associated with many partnerships with Egypt in the field of green hydrogen, as well as the energy pillar within the NWFE program, pointing out that during the annual meetings of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Uzbekistan, the bank's president, Odile Renaud-Basso, also applauded the energy pillar and its cooperation with Egypt in this field.

Al-Mashat stressed that the recent period -especially during COP27- witnessed fruitful and constructive cooperation with the AfDB, in launching the NWFE program, where the bank assumes the role of the main development partner in the water pillar, as well as launching the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing”, and participating in the two editions of the Egypt - International Cooperation Forum. 

She also stressed the importance of efforts made by the bank in facing current global challenges through emergency financing to enhance food security at a value of $271 million last year.

H.E. continued: “During the annual meetings, we held a high-level session, in partnership with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), on South-South cooperation, with the participation of all development partners, where we discussed the steps that we could take to enhance cooperation with the countries of the continent as well as triangular cooperation to exchange expertise and experiences. 

Our cooperation with the AfDB and Egypt's presidency of NEPAD until 2025 represent important opportunities to enhance South-South cooperation, enabling us to advance joint cooperation to implement Africa's development agenda.”

In the same context, Al-Mashat indicated that Egypt's efforts with development partners and constructive partnerships give a positive impression and confirm the importance of multilateral cooperation in supporting development efforts.

 It also reflects the ability of emerging countries and African countries to move forward in achieving development experiences, pointing out that the development cooperation programs implemented by Egypt show clarity, commitment and credibility.

The Minister noted that within the framework of Egypt's presidency of COP27, the country is working to mobilize various financing mechanisms for the NWFE program, and during the next session of the conference in the UAE, the efforts that have been made over a period of more than a year will be presented with development partners in the field of climate financing mobilization.

During the meeting, Al-Mashat gave Adesina, a copy of the Ministry's 2022 Annual Report, which includes the results of the international partnerships implemented during the past year, and confirmed that the coming period would witness more joint cooperation in light of Egypt’s priorities and vision to achieve development and stimulate climate action.

For his part, Adesina expressed his appreciation to Egypt and his sincere thanks for hosting the annual meetings of the bank in its 58th session, and facilitating ways for the participation of all the bank’s governors from African countries and others. He also thanked Egypt’s leadership in COP27, and the bank’s plans to support climate action locally, regionally and internationally.

Adesina continued, saying, "I also thank the Minister of International Cooperation, for her launch of the NWFE program, which aims to mobilize investments exceeding $14 billion in the mitigation and adaptation sectors to support climate action in Egypt, and we have heard from our talks with many countries of the continent several inquiries about the program themes.”

Adesina pointed to the importance of the steps that Egypt has already taken in the field of stimulating green financing and climate action, noting that the guarantee that the bank recently approved at a value of $345 million will enhance Egypt's ability to issue panda bonds, enabling it to increase financing for green and social projects.

He stressed the bank's keenness to stimulate private sector investments in Africa and stimulate development efforts, despite a challenging backdrop of global crises.

The AfDB is one of Egypt's main development partners. Since its inception, the AfDB has contributed to financing a number of important development projects in various sectors through development funds, grants and technical assistance, providing more than $6 billion in development funds, including more than a billion dollars to finance 24 operations for the private sector.