Al-Mashat Praises Co-op Btw BADEA & Int'l Financing Institutions

Nada Mustafa

H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), confirmed that there are great opportunities for cooperation between the bank, international financing institutions, and multilateral development banks, to create an integrated approach to support development in countries on the continent that are facing major challenges and a lack of financing.

This came during her participation in the meeting of the Board of Governors of the BADEA, as part of the activities of the annual meetings of Arab financial institutions and bodies, which was launched today in the New Administrative Capital under the patronage of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, and in the presence of Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister.

Al-Mashat pointed out her recent participation in the annual meetings of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in her capacity as the bank’s Governor of Egypt, and the Board of Governors’ decision-making to support expanding the scope of its operations in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and including Benin, Nigeria and other countries to the list of countries of operations.

H.E. explained that international institutions began expanding their operations in African countries after they were reluctant to finance development on the continent, pointing out that this expansion represents a great opportunity to integrate the efforts of the BADEA, in a way that increases the effectiveness of the development efforts being made.

Moreover, the Minister congratulated the bank's senior management on the successful issuance of social bonds worth 500 million euros to finance projects in the areas of basic services such as health care, education, financing small and medium enterprises and food security, in addition to generating job opportunities and the affordable housing sector.

It is worth noting that Al-Masha holds the position of Governor of Egypt at the BADEA which was established by a decision of the Sixth Arab Summit Conference held in Algeria on November 28, 1973, and began its operations in March 1975, and was based in Khartoum as its headquarters. The Bank is considered a financial institution funded by the governments of the member states of the League of Arab States that signed the agreement establishing it on February 18, 1974. The number of Arab countries that are currently members of the Bank is 18 countries. The establishment of the bank is a response to the goal of supporting economic, financial and technical cooperation between the Arab and African regions.