Egypt Enhances Development Cooperation with EIB: Launches Regional Hub in Cairo

The Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat,held a discussion session with Guido Clary, Head of the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Regional Hub, which was launched at the end of last year and officially began its work in Egypt, in confirmation of the close relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the EIB.

The meeting witnessed discussions about future cooperation with the Bank at the level of technical support and development financing for the government and private sectors in Egypt, as well as enhancing the benefit of the Bank’s regional center in encouraging South-South cooperation and tripartite cooperation between Egypt and the countries of the region.

During the meeting, Al-Mashat stressed the close and ongoing cooperation with the EIB, in light of the long-standing relations between Egypt and the European Union. H.E. noted that the EIB is the largest multilateral development bank supporting the private sector in Egypt through concessional development financing, technical support, and investments. It is also considered the second largest multilateral development bank in financing the public sector, which enhances sustainable and comprehensive development efforts.

H.E. explained that choosing Cairo to host the EIB’s regional hub as a starting point for enhancing cooperation between the bank and countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, is an affirmation of the strength of relations with Egypt and the culmination of a process extending for decades of joint work to stimulate development efforts, as Egypt is the first country that witnessed the opening of an external office for the EIB in 2003, noting that the regional center will support Egypt’s efforts in encouraging South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation with other countries to exchange development expertise and benefit from best practices and experiences.

In a related context, Al-Mashat discussed strengthening cooperation with the EIB through the Private Sector Engagement Portal: Hub for Advisory, Finance & Investment for Enterprises, which provides more financial and non-financial services to private sector companies in Egypt, in support of the government's efforts aimed at increasing partnership opportunities with private sector companies and encouraging investment.

H.E. stressed the need to promote what the EIB offers to the private sector in Egypt and highlight these activities in a way that enhances the benefit of more companies.

The meeting also discussed the existing partnership within the framework of the NWFE program, whether at the level of the connection between water, food and energy projects, or sustainable transportation NWFE+, considering the EIB is the main development partner in this pillar, and the future steps to implement projects within the framework of development partners’ pledges in coordination between various parties to advance efforts to transition to a green economy in Egypt.

The meeting also touched on discussing various aspects of future cooperation with the bank in light of the joint strategy, as well as under the umbrella of cooperation between Egypt and the European Union to finance development efforts. The two also discussed holding the investment conference scheduled to be held this year.

For his part, Mr. Guido Clary, noted that Egypt is the bank’s first country of operations outside the European Union, and this was reflected in many development partnerships implemented at the level of the governmental and private sectors. Clary also referred to the Italian-African summit that was held in Rome.

He pointed to the bank’s focus on expanding its operations in Egypt, especially with the private sector, and enhancing joint efforts to achieve green transformation and contribute to the implementation of national targets for green hydrogen generation. He also explained that the bank aims to intensify its field visits to the projects that it contributed to implementing in various governorates of Egypt, determining on-ground impact for citizens.

Moreover, he noted that the inauguration of the bank's regional center in Egypt will undoubtedly reflect on the expansion of the scope of cooperation with various Egyptian institutions, expressing the bank's keenness to move forward in coordination with the Ministry of International Cooperation and various development partners to implement the "NWFE" program projects at the level of all pillars.

H.E. Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, with the participation of Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, and Ms. Gelsomina Vigilotti, Vice President of the European Investment Bank, witnessed the launch of the EIB’s regional hub in Cairo during the launch event of the first follow-up report of the “NWFE” program in November.

It is worth noting that the value of the current development portfolio is approximately €3.5 billion, which includes many financing tools through soft loans, grants, technical support and various development grants between the European Union and the Bank, with a total number of 16 projects to contribute to supporting development projects in various sectors, including: Drinking water and sanitation, transportation, small and medium enterprises, air navigation, environment, and energy. The bank manages 5 development projects for the benefit of the European Union, and Egypt is considered the largest country of operations for the bank in the region of the southern neighboring countries of the European Union.