European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD, approved the new strategy for 2021-2025 during the annual meetings that took place over the past week and witnessed many important events, most notably the election of the first female president Odile Renaud Basso.
The new strategy will see it repositioning itself as a leader in green finance with an ambitious plan to become a majority green bank by 2025 and increasing the share of green financing to at least 50% of its total financing by 2025.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the bank will enhance its activities in the following sectors: financial institutions, industry, commerce and agribusiness, and sustainable infrastructure.
It will focus on accelerating the pace of recovery caused by the pandemic and strengthening the private sector by increasing its share in the bank’s investments to more than 75%.
EBRD INCREASES ANNUAL FUNDING TO 13 BILLION EUROS
The new strategy will see a rise in the bank’s investments from the previous years, as it seeks to increase its annual funding to nearly 13 billion euros compared to the previous record level of 10 billion euros in 2019, enabling it to address the challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On her part, Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the EBRD, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, affirmed that Egypt commends the new strategy that the EBRD will seek to implement during the period from 2021-2025 in order to achieve a fully green economy transition that is in line with Egypt’s agenda.
Al Mashat praised the strategic relations with the EBRD, adding that the bank’s investments last year amounted to about 1.2 billion euros 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 to strengthen economic cooperation and contribute to Egypt’s sustainable development.
The current portfolio of ongoing projects of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Egypt amounts to around 4.6 billion euros, of which 2.7 billion euros is dedicated to the private sector in 92 projects and about 1.9 billion euros for the public sector in 13 projects. The total portfolio is distributed accordingly: 45% for sustainable infrastructure, 23% for industry, trade, and agribusiness, and 31% for financial institutions.
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