The Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat and the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat, witnessed the launch of the World Bank Group’s (WBG) “Egypt Economic Monitor” report for 2021.
The report highlighted the wide range of the Government of Egypt’s digital transformation and the most prominent macroeconomic indicators. The event also included the participation of the Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti Marina Wes; and Nadir Mohammed, the Regional Director for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions (EFI) in the MENA region, alongside several officials from both ministries and the WBG.
The WBG’s report indicated that the Egyptian economy has shown resilience despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as macroeconomic stability and ongoing reforms witnessed by the energy sector during the past few years has enhanced the country’s ability to face challenges.
The report also predicts that a gradual improvement in the economy will increase growth rates to return to pre-pandemic levels, reaching 5.5% in the 2021/2022 fiscal year. Moreover, the report highlights Egypt’s digital transformation, including the adoption of various digital technologies and the increased online services that have supported this transition and the “Digital Egypt” Strategy.
Al-Mashat explained that the ongoing development cooperation portfolio between Egypt and the WBG encompasses 15 projects worth $5.5 billion across sectors such as, education, health, transportation, social solidarity, petroleum, housing, sanitation, local development, and environment.
In 2021, development financing agreements worth $1.4 billion were signed in support of supporting the Universal Health Insurance System Project (UHIS), the Egypt Inclusive Growth For Sustainable Recovery Development Policy Financing, the Railway Improvement And Safety For Egypt (RISE) Project, and the Greater Cairo Air Pollution Management And Climate Change Project.
The Ministry of International Cooperation has also matched the WBG’s development financing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Al-Mashat noted that the Ministry of International Cooperation, in accordance with national entities, is preparing country strategies with many development partners, including the WBG.
The upcoming country strategies are based on several axes: improving the work environment and enhancing the role of the private sector, especially in creating more job opportunities; enhancing and developing the outputs associated with human capital investment; strengthening cooperation in climate action, especially in relation to mitigation and adaptation projects; and supporting development efforts in achieving sustainable economic growth and development.
It is intended that the axes of this framework will be formulated through three cross-cutting priorities; good governance, regional integration, and women’s empowerment.
With regard to development cooperation between Egypt and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the WBG’s arm for financing the private sector, Al-Mashat stated that the current portfolio amounts to $1.3 billion in multiple sectors, adding the Ministry of International Cooperation also matched the secured development financing from 2016 to 2020 with the SDGs.
The results showed that 44% of the development financing was directed to SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, and 38% to SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, 7% to SDG 2: Zero Hunger, and 7% to SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
Al-Mashat also touched on the country-led multi-stakeholder engagement framework that aims to maximize the socioeconomic returns from Official Development Assistance (ODA), to ensure the alignment of development interventions with the national objectives as well as with the SDGs, and to enhance the management of development cooperation for better implementation of development projects within Egypt.
The Minister added that a multi-stakeholder platform was held last year in the presence of the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat where the “Digital Egypt” Strategy was presented, alongside the latest developments in the ICT sector, notably related to the Hayah Karima (Decent Life) initiative, “Electronic Manufacturing” and “Assistive Technologies” initiative.
Al-Mashat added that within the portfolio of the Ministry of International Cooperation, there are currently 36 projects focused on innovation, digitalization and entrepreneurship contributing to 11 SDGs with a total development financing of $1 billion, secured through cooperation with 16 multilateral and bilateral development partners.
Al-Mashat also explained that the Ministry of International Cooperation conducted a comprehensive mapping exercise of all current effective projects to the SDGs for 2021, which includes 372 projects amounting to $26.5 billion in support of accelerating progress towards Egypt’s development.
The highest SDG in receiving ODA financing was SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure amounting to $5.9 billion, making up for 22.3% of the portfolio, SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation amounting to $5.3 billion, making up for 20.3% of the portfolio, SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy amounting to $4.6 billion, making up for 17.5% of the portfolio.
For his part, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat confirmed that nearly 120 government services have been launched on the “Digital Egypt” platform, including documentation, traffic, courts, social security, and civil status services, reflecting the Government of Egypt’s commitment to accelerating the pace of the digital transformation, to adopting modern technologies for good governance, and to enable the government to efficiently manage its resources.
Talaat added that Egypt was among the high-performing countries in the GovTech Index 2020, as well as among the top 10 developing countries in digital inclusion. He added that the country’s ranking in the “readiness” index advanced 8 positions during the year, in addition to the progress that occurred in the “Government Readiness for Artificial Intelligence” index at 55, comparing 2019 and 2022.
Talaat reviewed the “Digital Egypt” strategy implemented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which is based on three axes: Digital Transformation, Digital Skills and Jobs, and Digital Innovation.
The Minister added that the Government of Egypt aims to achieve a transformation towards an integrated digital society through constructive cooperation between the Ministry and all state sectors, so as to implement various projects and to move to the New Administrative Capital (NAC) as a paperless government.
He added that there are various projects aimed at enhancing the efficiency of government services, including the automation of the UHIS, the development of a system to achieve better management of state resources, the application of a digital justice system, as well as the AHMOS project through which 200 government applications are developed and restructured.
The Minister added that a plan is also being implemented to reformulate the role of the Egyptian post, and to develop its branches which extend to over 4000 post offices through the republic, so that it can become an outlet for providing the “Digital Egypt” services and financial inclusion.
This is referring to the Ministry’s efforts in developing the information infrastructure which has resulted in a 7-fold increase in the average fixed internet speed, as Egypt advanced 35 positions across Africa, currently ranking in the top 3 countries with an average fixed internet speed on the continent, as per a report by Ookla, a global company in internet testing and analysis.
Talaat also shared the Ministry’s participation in the Hayah Karima (Decent Life) Presidential Initiative which is being implemented across 4,500 villages, through improving the efficiency of the information infrastructure in villages, including digital literacy and economic empowerment through technical training provided to citizens.
Talaat explained the efforts being made to invest in international submarine cables.
This in light of Egypt’s unique geographical location in the heart of the world, linking the East and the West, making it a center for the passage of international submarine cables, where 13 can pass through and 5 others are currently being constructed.
The cables transmit over 90% of the data traffic in Asia and Europe, indicating that paths of fiber-optic cables transiting inside Egypt are provided to serve international data traffic in a secure manner via a network of 4,000 square kilometers. Moreover, the addition of 4 international submarine cables contributed to an increase in capacity by 70%.
He added that Telecom Egypt will launch a mega cable “Harp” around the African continent to link coastal and inland countries on the continent with landing stations in Europe to deliver high-quality and high-speed internet services, and to enhance Egypt’s position in the data center industry.
The Minister pointed out that the ICT sector is the highest growing sector, with a growth rate of 16%, contributing to about 5% of the GDP. He also added that the technical training budget provided by the ministry has doubled 22 times in 3 years, and that the number of trainees has increased from 4 thousand to a target of training 200 thousand in the fiscal year 2021/2022 with investments of EGP 1.1 billion.
Nadir Mohammed, the Regional Director for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions (EFI) in the MENA region, shared that the Egyptian economy is doing quite well, as Egypt is one of the few emerging countries that did not witness an economic downturn in growth rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mohammed added that he expects Egypt to be one of the few countries that can return to pre-pandemic growth rates.
“Egypt is expected to revert to its pre-pandemic growth path under the baseline scenario that assumes a gradually improving COVID-19 situation,” said Marina Wes, World Bank Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti.
“Further advancement of reforms that would unlock the potential of private sector activity is critical to sustain the recovery, drive productivity growth and generate high-earning job opportunities.” she added.
It is worth noting that the Ministry’s 2021 annual report “Engaging For Impact Towards Our Common Future”, detailed that the total development financing last year amounted to $10.2 billion including $8.7 billion directed to public sector development and $1.57 billion directed to private sector development.
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