AIIB to invest $1B in Egypt’s private sector: Finance Ministry

CAIRO - 26 September 2023: The Asian infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) agrees to invest $1 billion to support projects in the Egyptian private sector. As Egypt hosts the 8th annual meeting in Sharm el Sheikh, Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, expressed Egypt’s leading role at regional and international level, also spoke on the efforts made for the sustainable development goals.

Banque Misr will also receive part of the financial fund, and the rest would be used to continue developing the Alexandrian metro project. Egypt is also considering the possibility of issuing blue bonds as well as sustainability bonds, Maait also added.

The AIIB annual meetings are held this year after a three-year hiatus amid big global challenges, such as the repercussions of COVID-19, Russian-Ukranian crisis, President Abdelfattah El-Sisi said during the opening remarks.

Such challenges have spilled over into all economic and social sectors and were followed by a massive inflationary wave that hit the world and affected its economies, especially those of emerging and developing countries, the finance minister said.

Maait stressed the need for substantial funding solutions that no single government can fulfill. National budgets, he argued, are stretched to the limit, placing immense financial pressure. Private capital, he emphasized, plays a crucial role in bridging these gaps across countries, particularly in emerging markets.