By Asmau Ahmad
The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Abdel El-Sisi, has commended the African Development Bank (AfDB) for helping the continent deal with impact of global economic challenges.
A statement issued by AfDB said the Egyptian leader made the commendation when he received a delegation from the bank led by its President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina in Cairo.
Dr Adesina was in Egypt to familiarise himself with preparations ahead of the Bank’s 2023 Annual Meetings scheduled for May 22 to May 26 in the resort city of Sharm El Sheikh.
About 13 heads of state and government are expected to join the Bank’s Governors, executive directors, development partners and management at the meetings.
To discuss Mobilising Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa.
According to President El-Sisi, Egypt looks forward to continuing and increasing cooperation with the bank in various development sectors.
He said the bank was closely working with Egypt to mobilise international climate financing to address the country’s climate challenges, building the resilience of vulnerable systems and promoting sustainable development.
El-Sisi said the Just Green Transition (JGT) initiative had a pipeline of investment-ready projects worth 14.8 billion dollars to tackle the Nexus of Water, Food and Energy.
He appealed to the bank to lead the mobilisation of financing for its water pillar projects.
AfDB president said the bank had mobilised 2.3 billion dollars exceeding the initial target of 1.4 billion dollars, and the bank was supporting Egypt’s water desalination projects.
The bank’s president praised Egypt’s bold efforts to tap into private sector finance for green growth initiatives.
“The government of Egypt plans to issue a green bond in the Chinese capital markets by the end of June this year.
“The Green Panda bond with a face value of 500 million dollars will be issued in Chinese Renminbi.
“This will be the first time for an African country to issue a bond in the Chinese capital markets,” he said.
Adesina said the bank’s Board of Directors would discuss Egypt’s request to provide a partial credit guarantee of 345 million dollars to support the issuance of the bond in the next couple of months.
He said the Green Panda Bond would be the latest among several other bonds Egypt had issued since 2020 when it inaugurated its Green Financing Framework.
Adesina also commended Egypt for its commitment to increasing the role of the private sector in the economy.
“Egypt inaugurated the privatisation of 32 State-owned entities early this year worth 40 billion dollars over the next four years.
“To reduce the footprint of the public sector in the economy and give more room to the private sector to grow.
On additional financial support to Egypt in 2023, Adesina said the bank planned to provide 133 million dollars to deal with macroeconomic instability caused by the continuing global compounded crisis.
He said in 2022, the bank provided 272 million dollars policy-based operations to support Egypt’s efforts to tackle the impact of the crisis.
Adesina said the bank was impressed by the infrastructure and facilities the Egyptian government had established in Sharm El Sheikh, which successfully hosted last 2022 COP 27.
“The infrastructure you have developed in Sharm El Sheikh is amazing. Its world-class. The city constantly changes, putting green growth at the heart of its development.
“It’s an example of how successful financing of municipalities and other sub-national entities can deliver impactful social-economic development.
“Other African countries can learn from Sharm El Sheikh,” the bank chief said.
Adesina also met diplomats representing the bank’s shareholders and development partners in Egypt.
He said the bank was committed to supporting countries across Africa achieve accelerated development in spite the recent economic shocks and geo-political tensions affecting them.
Meanwhile, the Governor of South Sinai Governorate, Maj.-Gen. Khaled Fouda (retired) said the city of Sharm El Sheikh was ready to host the more than 2,000 delegates attending the bank’s Annual Meetings in May.
