Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, announced during the launch of the 2020 Annual Report that the Ministry succeeded in securing development financing worth $677 million in 2020 with the AfDB, the AFD, and EBRD.

The report also reveals that in Egypt, there are 34 projects within the Ministry of International Cooperation’s portfolio answering SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy with a total of $5.95 billion thus making up for 23.2% of the ODA.

The report, titled ‘International Partnerships for Sustainable Development’, tracks Egypt’s progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The report draws on the latest available data found in the Ministry’s ODA SDG mapping exercise, and provides an overview of Egypt’s implementation efforts, highlighting areas of progress and the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on each SDG.

Multilateral cooperation plays an important role in promoting clean investment and funding renewable energy projects. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerating a green transition has been regarded as a central pillar for effective post COVID-19 recovery, particularly as the pandemic led to an unprecedented reduction in demand for energy for transportation.

To reflect the changing global dynamic, Al-Mashat noted that the Ministry of International Cooperation has been working to apply the three principles of economic diplomacy, which are: organizing multi-stakeholder platforms, ODA SDG mapping, and the Global Partnerships Narrative (People&Projects&Purpose).  

The report outlines the main success drivers that all the projects fall under, which is the Ministry’s ‘Global Partnerships Narrative’ that focuses on three main pillars: people at the core, projects in action, and purpose as the driver, to streamline all development efforts under one umbrella and push for a human-centered economy.

Putting people at the core, the report identifies the socio-economic benefits of investing in renewable energy, namely improving public health, creating more jobs, reducing future energy prices, reducing household electricity bills and carbon emissions.

Under projects in action, the report mentions several projects implemented with various partners. In July 2020, the AfDB Board of Directors have approved the financing of Egypt’s Electricity and Green Growth Support Program (EGGSP) with $254 million. The project aims to enhance financial sustainability, improve management and operational efficiency of the energy sector, and support the use of renewable energy.

The Ministry of International Cooperation and the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, also signed the Egyptian-Danish Energy Partnership Program (2019-2022) agreement with the Energy Agency of the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, to unlock Egypt’s green transformation and invest in renewable energy.

The report also highlighted the success story of the Benban solar park, which is the fourth largest solar park in the world, and is an example of how countries can put people at the heart of renewable energy projects through promoting job opportunities, with around 4000 Egyptians currently being employed.

With purpose as the driver, the following projects aim to achieve several targets of the SDGs, namely Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, Goal 13: Climate Action, Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 9: Industry and Innovation and Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

According to the annual report by the Ministry of International Cooperation in 2020, the ministry secured development financing agreements worth $9.8 billion during the year; $6.7 billion for financing sovereign projects, and $3.1 billion in support of the private sector.