NWFE program aims to mobilize investments worth $14.7B: Al-Mashat

CAIRO - 19 January 2023: Egypt’s NWFE program aims to mobilize investments worth $14.7 billion, according to Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat.

Al-Mashat elaborated that those investments are divided into $10 billion for energy sector projects to implement plants generating 10 GW of renewable energy, and $1.35 billion directed to water sector projects, in addition to $3.35 billion for food security projects, so as to stimulate adaptation efforts and mitigate the consequences of climate change.

This came during Al-Mashat participation in the Agility Tanden Talk on the current state of the global economy and how to move forward in stimulating investments to build sustainable economies, alongside Stephen Gerard Pagliuca, co-chairman of Bain Capital, an international private sector firm.

The Minister said that Egypt launched the NWFE program as an integrated approach based on the interlinkages between the water, food and energy sectors, and its projects are derived from the National Strategy for Climate Change (NCCS) 2050.

This is done in order to stimulate green transformation and implement NDCs and to achieve economic growth. The platform includes all relevant stakeholders, whether multilateral and bilateral development partners, development banks, international institutions, philanthropic organizations and the private sector, to create efforts that are consistent with national priorities and to integrate to achieve comprehensive and sustainable growth and stimulate private sector investment.

In her speech, the Minister said that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown many vulnerabilities in the global economy and reinforced the need for adaptability and resilience in order to face future shocks and risks. These challenges are also coupled with the war in Europe that has led to rising energy prices, a threat to food security, disruptions in supply chains and rising inflation rates.

Al-Mashat pointed out that all these challenges are likely to undermine development efforts and the gains that have been made over the past years, putting  millions of citizens around the world at risk of poverty, and will increase debt burdens on many developing and emerging countries, according to estimates of international organizations.

She explained that the climate change crisis also casts a shadow at a time when the world is witnessing a gap in climate financing, and the funds required to implement the NDCs  by 2030 amount to about $5.9 trillion.

She drew attention to the G20's emphasis on the importance of joint action and unified efforts to provide funds and resources in order to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development, resilience and the ability to face shocks, in addition to the importance of national platforms based on transparency, inclusiveness and institutionalization, as well as facilitating dialogue between the various relevant parties and enabling countries to meet development requirements and priorities, and mobilize various financing mechanisms and resources.

The NWFE program came to become a different model for the G20 initiative under the name of JETPs, which was launched to support countries that depend on coal for energy generation in order to reduce their contribution to pollution and global warming. Meanwhile, NWFE is a mechanism that can be replicated and applied in all developing and emerging economies to stimulate their ability to implement climate ambitions.

The WEF 2023 Annual Meetings in Davos, Switzerland is being held under the theme "Cooperation in a Fragmented World", with the participation of several heads of state, heads of government, ministers, and major private sector companies. The Minister is scheduled to hold a number of bilateral meetings between the 16th and 20th with representatives of multilateral and bilateral development partners, private sector companies, and philanthropic organizations, and will also be participating in several events and sessions in light of the strengthening economic relations between Egypt and regional and international institutions.