Egypt Biggest Recipient of EBRD's Investments

The Egyptian Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr met on Friday with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti to discuss future possibilities of boosting the Bank's investments in Africa's infrastructure as well as the expansion of cooperation with Egypt in various sectors.

This came during Nasr's visit to the British capital London in the presence of Tarek Adel, Ambassador of Egypt to London.

The ministry said in a statement that the two sides discussed increasing cooperation between Egypt and the bank in certain fields such as transport, including the monorail project and a number of infrastructure projects including electricity, and enhancing the role of the private sector in the economic activity.

Egypt called on international institutions to support the implementation of infrastructure projects in the African continent in light of the chairmanship of Egypt to the African Union (AU).

Nasr pointed out that infrastructure, in areas such as transport and energy, is the main engine behind economic growth and new investments in Africa.

[caption id="attachment_64785" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Nasr during a meeting with Suma Chakrabarti[/caption]

The bank's investments in Egypt represent more than 50 percent of its investments in Africa, which is currently concentrated in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. The private sector accounts for 58 percent of the total investments.

On his part, Chakrabarti praised the successful partnership between Egypt and the bank.

"In light of Egypt's success stories in the economic reform program, the country was selected as the biggest recipient of the Bank's investments," Chakrabarti said.

He pointed out that the Bank is committed to supporting Egypt in its reform efforts with investments of $ 4.9 billion.