Egypt signs development funds worth €715.6M with AFD

CAIRO – 9 December 2020: Egypt signed development funds worth €715.6 million in several development sectors with the French Development Agency (AFD).

The Ministry of International Cooperation said in a statement, Wednesday, that these funds come as part of the activities of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s visit to France to discuss bilateral cooperation in all fields, with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The funds were signed by Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, and Director of AFD Remy Roux, within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Strategic Partnership in Social and Economic Development, worth €1 billion, for 2019/2023, which were signed during the visit of the President of France to Egypt on January 28, 2019. 

The Minister of International Cooperation signed 7 documents, with the Director of AFD which are financing the energy sector policy support program, with a value of €150 million, and €1 million grant, with the aim of building capacity to develop a methodology and tool for assessing the social and direct and indirecteconomic impact, of the regulations and policies that prepared by the Electricity Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency, and to encourage electronic transport; to start transforming the transport sector on a greener path; and the application of international standards for the development regulations of energy services companies and recommendations related to Egypt.

They also signed the document of the budget support program to support the comprehensive health insurance system, with a value of €150 million, which the government seeks to implement to provide insurance coverage for all citizens to achieve the third goal of the sustainable development goals related to good health and well-being, and the financing document for the re-establishment of the French University was signed with a loan in the amount of €12 million and a grant of €2 million, as part of the government's efforts to develop and enrich the educational system and to enhance investment in human capital.

The Minister of International Cooperation signed a loan for the development of the Tanta / Mansoura / Damietta railway line, with a value of €95 million, and a loan of €250 million for financing the development of the Abu Qir railway. 

A financing loan of the sewage treatment plant in Helwan, worth €52 million, was signed. They also signed a financing program for transforming financing systems towards climate in Egypt, with a grant of €1.5 million, and a partnership agreement to implement a technical cooperation project to support the teaching of the French language in Egyptian government schools, with a grant of €1.5 million. The latter grant comes with the aim of supporting the development of curricula and educational resources, and providing linguistic and educational training for teachers.

According to the statement, this came in addition to the signing of a document between the governments of Egypt and France on cooperation in the field of university hospitals, which aims to train workers in the health sector, strengthen the institutional capacities of public hospitals and support equality in the health sector.

“The documents signed with the AFD are among the results of the important visit that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to France to discuss bilateral cooperation in all fields, as the projects on which the documents were signed support national efforts for development in various fields and supports the state’s march towards achieving sustainable development,” the Minister of International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat commented.

Al-Mashat explained that the Ministry of International Cooperation has sought throughout the past period to coordinate with all government agencies to identify priority development projects that can be implemented within the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed in 2019, worth one billion euros, praising economic cooperation relations with France and its positive contribution to many development projects. 

The total portfolio of economic cooperation between the two countries since 1974 and up to date has reached €7.5 billion, through more than 42 cooperation protocols in various sectors, including transportation, electricity, civil aviation, housing and sanitation, health, agriculture, irrigation, and small and medium enterprises, Environment, impacts, basic and technical education.

Egypt’s total current portfolio of economic cooperation with France amounts to €1 billion in the sectors of transport, electricity, small and medium enterprises, housing, utilities and urban development, agriculture, health and the environment.