Egypt's total current portfolio of development funds hits $25B in 19/20

CAIRO – 3 February 2021: Total current portfolio of development funds that were received during the fiscal year 2019/2020 amount to the equivalent of $25 billion, Ministry of International Cooperation announced.

The Ministry explained that 22 percent of these funds are dedicated to housing and wastewater management, while 19 percent is dedicated to energy and transportation.

This came during the ministry’s presentation in front of the Planning and Budgeting Committee on Tuesdayabout comprehensive data on development finances During 2019/2020 as well as the reforms that were implemented by the Ministry to enhance collaborative governance and project monitoring through creating more open, transparent, engaging and empowering spaces for effective implementation.

The meeting was held at the House of Representatives' Planning and Budgeting Committee’s headquarters in the presence of Randa Hamza, Assistant Minister of International Cooperation for Planning and Monitoring, and Sahar Salah, Director of the General Administration of Planning and Monitoring.

Hamza added that during 2020, Ministry of International Cooperation introduced structural reforms to restructure the framework of governance to enhance monitoring on the progress of projects funded by multilateral development partners and ensure the collection of data to improve decision-making, government performance, accountability and transparency of information with stakeholders.

This comes within the framework of the Ministry of International Cooperation’s Presidential Decree No. 303 of 2004, which is to follow-up and monitor national agencies that benefit from foreign development financing within the framework of the general economic policy of the country to achieve national development priorities.

She added that the ministry holds quarterly meetings for collaborative monitoring in the presence of various stakeholders, including the development partners, the beneficiaries, in addition to national representatives such as the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, to review the status of ongoing projects and review the accomplishments and targets that were achieved throughout the entire cycle of the project.

As a result of this periodic monitoring, it was revealed that in January 2020, the percentage of projects that faced challenges in their implementation was 16 percent, and by the end of December 2020 this decreased to only 2%, and that about 98% of the projects are on the right track in implementation with no constraints.

Hamza added that the Ministry of International Cooperation in the past year carried out several field visits to projects funded by development partners despite the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Sinai Community Development Program, agricultural and rural development projects in the governorates of Qena and Luxor, in addition to the Rod al-Farag wastewater treatment plant, to present evidence-based success stories and porotypes for international partnerships for development.

During her presentation in front of the House of Representatives in January, Minister of International Cooperation, Rania A. Al-Mashat, stated that throughout the year, from March 2020 until December 2020, the Ministry organized several multi-stakeholder platforms to bring together all different multilateral and bilateral partners to coordinate and streamline development goals according to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, which is eventually presented to the Prime Minister periodically to review challenges and progress.

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.