Egypt Concludes Deals worth EGP 10 billion for Financing Green Projects

Egypt signed a number of partnership agreements and letters of intent (LOI) worth around EGP 10 billion with development partners last week for its NWFE and NWFE+ programmes designed to finance green and ecofriendly projects.

Egypt’s NWFE, which stands for Nexus on Water, Food and Energy and means in Arabic “fulfilling pledges,” was launched by the international cooperation ministry in July as part of the country's National Climate Change Strategy 2050.

The programme seeks to mobilise soft financing and implement green development projects in cooperation with the private sector.

While NWFE is concerned with the water, food, and energy pillars, the NWFE+ programme includes sustainable transport projects.

In a meeting with Selwin Hart, the special adviser to the UN secretary-general on climate action, International Cooperation Minister Rania Al-Mashat said the partnership agreements and letters of intent with development partners were signed on 9 November during the Finance Day of the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh.

She added that the funds include around $7 billion for NWFE and about $3 billion for NWFE+.

Al-Mashat called on the UN to highlight the NWFE programme as an innovative national model for mobilising mixed finance to encourage the private sector and different financing mechanisms.

She added that such a model can be applied in developing countries and emerging markets.

Egypt currently has nine projects in the three pillars of the NWFE programme related to mitigation and adaptation, Al-Mashat said, noting that the projects have a clear and precise environmental impact that endorses Egypt’s comprehensive development efforts and enhances its transition to a green economy.

The energy pillar of NWFE has secured international political support from international partners during the conference, including from the United States and Germany in the presence of US President Joe Biden.

Both countries pledged over $250 million in support for the programme’s energy pillar, said the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which leads the pillar.