Egypt’s Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said that Egypt relies on the United States’ support of the climate change issues and securing necessary funds for African countries to cushion the impacts of climate change, particularly in light of the global economic crisis.
This came during a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Trade and Development Alexia Latortue and US charge d’affaires in Cairo Daniel Rubinstein on the sidelines of their participation in the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 27) in Sharm El Sheikh city.
During their meeting, the minister asserted Egypt’s keenness on encouraging the local and foreign private sectors out of its belief in its pivotal role in the sustainable development process, which provides major investment opportunities, particularly in the field of green hydrogen, electricity generation from new and renewable energy, water desalination, sustainable agriculture, as well as clean energy and transportation, a matter that contributes to the expansion of the green economy.
He also stressed the importance of promoting the role of global multilateral development banks in providing concessional financing facilities to emerging and African countries in light of the global economic crisis, taking into consideration that the soft green financing available so far still does not meet the great development needs of African states.
“We look forward to a greater role of the global multilateral development banks, as the guarantees are not sufficient,” the minister said, adding that over the past 10 years, these guarantees contributed to reducing the cost of financing in countries by 3.3%, in a way that motivates us to demand the expansion of these guarantees and link them to environmental and social objectives and economic reforms to reduce the cost of green borrowing, mobilize sources of private and mixed finance and extend the maturity dates, with a higher credit rating for the issuance.
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