Al-Mashat Meets German Economic Cooperation State Secretary for New Phase of “Debt Swap” Program

Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, witnessed the signing of a €30 million grant agreement for the Green Hydrogen Project in Egypt, in the presence of Eng. Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Ms. Svenja Schulze, German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

The agreement was signed between Scatec and the PTX Facility. The project will be funded by a grant from the PTX Green Hydrogen Facility, which was launched by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development with a value of €270 million for Egypt and six other partner countries. The funds aim to provide grants for industrial projects at various stages along the green hydrogen value chain.

Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, met with Dr. Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, to discuss developments in bilateral cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Federal Republic of Germany, and to discuss the ongoing preparations for the Egyptian-German governmental negotiations for 2024, scheduled to be held in Berlin by the end of this year.

This came during her participation in the Hamburg Sustainability Conference held in Germany on October 7 and 8, 2024, in implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

During the meeting, Dr. Al-Mashat confirmed that the depth of Egyptian-German relations, in particular bilateral economic relations between the two countries, which spans decades of fruitful cooperation based on mutual interests and a common vision to achieve sustainable economic development in a number of fields, including urban development, irrigation, agriculture, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.

Al-Mashat highlighted that the economic cooperation portfolio with the German side amounts to € 707.7 million (until September 2024) to finance several projects in the form of debt swaps, development finance, technical support grants and financial contributions, affirming that these projects play a fundamental role in supporting financing for development.

Dr. Al-Mashat commended the effective cooperation with the German side in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency, which was the political declaration issued by the governments of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United States of America, during November 2022, during the COP-27 Climate Summit, where the German government pledged to provide financing worth €258 million in the form of concessional loan, debt swaps, and supporting the energy pillar of the “NWFE” program.

Dr. Al-Mashat added that within the framework of implementing the provisions of the political declaration, the financial agreement for the electricity transmission project within the energy pillar of the “NWFE” program was signed in June 2023, worth € 54 million, in that financing package, with the aim of supporting the increased use of renewable energy sources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing the green transition.

Financing agreements were also signed for the smart grid development project worth € 53 million for the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy in the form of concessional loan and grant from the financing package to support the energy pillar of the “NWFE” program, which aims to add 450 megawatts to the capacity of the “Abis station”, reduce loads in the new city of Abu Qir, and to support the stability of the network and improve the access of renewable energy produced in the Red Sea region to the northern coastal region.

During the meeting, the Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation highlighted the “Egypt’s Integrated National Financing Strategy" which was launched on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The strategy is a collaborative initiative between the Egyptian government and the UN, and was developed within the framework of Egypt SDGs Financing Strategy Program, led by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in cooperation with several international organizations including the International Labor Organization ILO, UNCTAD, UNICEF, and UN Women, and with the support of the United Nations Joint SDGs Fund.

For his part, Dr. Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, applauded the Egyptian-German debt swap program, which is one of the most successful debt swap programs at the level of bilateral cooperation with various countries, affirming that many development projects have been implemented within the framework of this program.

The two sides also covered the latest developments in the New phase from the Egyptian – German Debt Swap Program, and the new projects expected to be financed within the energy pillar of the “NWFE” program. They discussed preparations for the upcoming Egyptian-German governmental negotiations, scheduled to be held in the last quarter of 2024 in Berlin, headed by H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat from the Egyptian side, and Ms. Svenja Schulze, German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the aim of identifying priority projects for the fiscal years 2024-2026.