Egypt's El-Mashat reviews new country strategy with EBRD

The meetings held by the Ministry of International Cooperation come within the framework of the extensive communication and consistent coordination the ministry plans with bilateral and multilateral development partners, in order to discuss ways that push forward the countries efforts towards scaling up green transformation and bolstering climate action, especially after Egypt launched its National Climate Change Strategy - 2050, and within the framework of Egypt’s preparations to host the next edition of the UN Climate Change Conference next year in Sharm El Sheikh, according to a statement on Thursday.

During the meeting, El-Mashat reviewed the EBRD’s efforts in integrating with the Egyptian government's plan towards achieving the 2030 national development agenda, which also aligns with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The minister further referred to the preparations for the new Country Strategy 2022/2027, which has been finalised, noting that there have been steps taken towards the final approval of the strategy. This strategy reflects the strategic and deep cooperation between Egypt and the EBRD and highlights the bank’s role as one of Egypt’s key partners in supporting the country’s efforts to achieve its development agenda.

El-Mashat mentioned that the new five-year Country Strategy with the EBRD rests on three pillars: achieve a more inclusive economy for the business environment, youth, and women; accelerate the pace towards green economy, and enhance competitiveness through boosting growth rates and enhancing the private sector’s role in development.

The EBRD launched through its annual meetings last year a new strategy on the level of all countries of operations, centred on three pillars; firstly, supporting the transformation towards green economy, enhancing environmental sustainability, and reducing carbon emissions. The second pillar is enhancing gender equality and putting it at the core of the financed projects, whereas the third pillar is advancing digitisation through activities that enable countries to achieve digital transformation.

Through its new strategy, the EBRD has set an ambitious target for the green share of its investment to reach more than 50% by 2025, in order to reduce carbon emissions in its countries of operations by 25-40 tonnes, during the strategy’s period.

Since 2012, the EBRD has invested more than EUR 7.4 billion in implementing 134 projects, and in developing Egypt’s public and private sectors, 75% of which are allocated to the private sector. In 2020, Egypt was the EBRD’s largest country of operations in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region, accounting for more than EUR 1 billion to finance 21 projects, which comprise 47% of the bank’s total investments in the region. Egypt was also the largest country of operations for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019.