Concluding her visit to the United Kingdom, Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al Mashat, held a meeting with Executive Director of the British International Investment (CDC) Diana Layfield, CEO of the Climate Investment Funds Mafalda Duarte, and Chief Executive of the UK’s Export Finance Louis Taylor.
“To leapfrog to a better form of growth that can deliver on both development and climate goals, a major ramp-up in the scale and quality of financing is required to support Egypt and Africa’s adaptation to climate change,” the minister said.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that adaptation costs alone will be in a range of $140 billion to $300 billion per year by 2030, and $280 billion to $500 billion annually by 2050.
The Minister discussed with Lewis Taylor, Chief Executive of the UK’s Export Finance, opportunities to mobilize blended financing and increase financing to the private sector, particularly due to the risks of the impact of the Ukraine-Russia crisis on mobilizing financing to the private sector, as well as opportunities to strengthen cooperation with the UK’s Export Credit Agency.
Previously, UK Export Finance, a government trade agency, approved £1.7bn (US$2.3bn) in loan guarantees for a credit package for a monorail system connecting the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to the newly built administrative capital, to the east, and to 6th of October City, to the south‑west.
Through strategic integration of all partnership strategies, the Minister highlighted the Ministry of International Cooperation’s strategy integrations with the British International Investment’s strategy for the period from 2022-2026, which serves three main priorities: productive development, sustainable development, and inclusive development.
The meetings also touched on Egypt’s bold vision for the United Nations Climate Conference COP27, which will include impressive participation of women, youth and civil society, and the opportunities to develop a global framework for innovative financing to implement the SDGs at full scale and speed.
For her part, Mafalda Duarte, CEO of the Climate Investment Funds, said that Egypt is a leading country in climate action among developing countries, as it hosts the United Nations Climate Conference COP27, explaining that with joint action, the pace of funding can be accelerated.
The Ministry of International Cooperation’s 2021 annual report, which was issued under the title “Engaging for Impact Towards Our Common Future”, revealed that development financing in 2021 totalled 10.2 billion dollars.
Source: State Information Service Egypt