WB Approves $360 mln Loan to Support Egypt’s Second Wave of Reforms

The Minister of International Cooperation and Egypt’s Governor at the World Bank Group (WBG) Dr. Rania Al-Mashat stated that the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a $360 million Development Policy Financing (DPF).

This comes within the framework of the strategic relations between Egypt and the World Bank Group, as this DFP aims to support Egypt’s post-pandemic recovery and advance towards sustainable and inclusive growth, in order to further push forward sustainable development through implementing reforms.

Al-Mashat mentioned that the DPF approved by the World Bank, comes within the framework of the joint development financing between the WBG and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, as it aims to support Egypt’s economy as well as the second wave of structural reforms, through three main pillars: Enhancing Macro-Fiscal Sustainability, Enabling Private Sector Development, and Fostering Women’s Economic Inclusion.

The first pillar aims to enhance the overall financial sustainability, as it encompasses improving the management of state-owned enterprises through bolstering transparency and reporting and stimulating the transition towards a green economy.

Whereas the second pillar aims to enhance the private sector’s engagement in development efforts through supporting digital and financial inclusion; enhancing trade facilitation; and customs-related processes, in order to boost Egypt’s competitiveness and private-sector job creation. This is in addition to enhancing the private sector’s engagement in waste management, which lays the foundation for a green and inclusive development.

In that same vein, the third pillar further supports Women Economic Inclusion, and the government legislative and regulatory reforms that promote female participation in the labor force, and supports the Government adoption of a national code of conduct that promotes safe and decent transportation for women in railways.

The Minister elaborated that the Government of Egypt is moving forward with continuous economic and structural reforms, in order to achieve an inclusive and sustainable recovery that enables Egypt’s resilience to future shocks, and pushes forward the achievement of Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); adding that this project is the WBG’s first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa to focus on strengthening Egyptian women’s role in achieving economic and social development.

H.E. Al-Mashat further applauded the strategic and effective relationships that Egypt shares with the WBG, which relies on pillars and frameworks through which the country’s efforts in achieving inclusive and sustainable growth have been supported across various sectors, such as education, health, local development, and environment.

The Minister also noted that the Ministry of International Cooperation’s continuous coordination and follow-up plays a role in advancing partnerships with bilateral and multilateral development partners, in order to provide development financing and technical support for all the country’s sectors.

For her part, the World Bank Country Director for Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti Marina Wes, stated that the WBG is proud to support Egypt’s endeavors to build back better, through this operation and many more. “One of the key objectives of this operation is making Egypt’s growth more inclusive and more resilient to future shocks, by addressing long term structural challenges and recognizing the pivotal role of women in the country’s economic growth,” Wes added.

The World Bank Group further applauded Egypt’s rapid measures to face the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the economic and social reforms that have been implemented to curb the negative repercussions of the pandemic and enhance economic competitiveness, which has helped cushion the country during the pandemic and made Egypt one of the few countries that maintained a positive growth during the pandemic, due to the mega homegrown projects that were implemented since 2016.

Over the past few months, the Ministry of International Cooperation has held several meetings that the WBG was a part of, in addition to other relevant stakeholders, to coordinate Development Policy Financing. The Ministry has also organized meetings with development partners and the private sector to identify the most important measures taken by the Egyptian government to support economic reform efforts.

In October, Minister Al-Mashat held an extensive meeting with the WBG’s leaders, within the framework of the Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). During this meeting, they addressed the Development Policy Financing framework that the Government of Egypt works on in cooperation with the WBG, as well as the ongoing and future projects that pave the way for the achievement of Egypt’s Vision 2030 in purchasing vaccines, developing the healthcare sectors, and developing Upper Egypt, etc.

It is worth noting that the ongoing development cooperation portfolio with the World Bank amounts to $5.8 billion to finance 18 projects across various sectors, including education, health, transportation, social solidarity, petroleum, housing, sanitation, local development, and environment.