Co-operation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has been fruitful and constructive with regard to development. Meanwhile, the private sector has a great role to play in development through its contributions to national mega-projects in various sectors.
These remarks came during a meeting between Egyptian Minister of International Co-operation Rania el-Mashaat and Walid Lbadi , IFC country manager for Egypt, Yemen and Libya.
The IFC is one of the institutions of the World Bank (WB).
The minister, who is also Egypt’s Governor of the World Bank Group (WBG) said the IFC funded the private sector with $421 million during the past year, while the corporation invested $4 billion in the private sector for various development projects.
Discussions focused on development co-operation programmes in the coming period in renewable energy, transport, wastewater management and desalination.
The talks looked into ways to support the national efforts to adapt to climate change.
The current portfolio with the IFC stands at $1.26 billion in a wide range of activities ranging from agriculture to tourism, plus infrastructure and petroleum industries, the minister said.
As of September 2021, the IFC portfolio in Egypt included $30.2 million in energy, environment, chemicals, textiles and vehicle manufacture, el-Mashaat said, adding that $25 billion has been spread over a large number of projects in the field of renewable energy, water, plus projects to promote the switch to a green and sustainable economy.
El-Mashaat confirmed that her ministry is working on development funding from multilateral and bilateral development partners to support government projects to mitigate the impacts of climate change, forming part of a strategy to move towards a green economy, for which the green bond issue is in line with Egypt’s sustainable strategy for 2030.
For his part, Labadi said the IFC aims to create a local market for renewable energy by benefiting from the expertise and financial influence of the private sector.
Labadi praised the participation of the ministries of international co-operation and industry in the Sustainable Finance Forum last October, which discussed ways to boost African economies via stimulating economic growth, promoting gender inclusion, and preserving the environment.
