Egypt using development finance to boost private sector-minister

Egypt using development finance to boost private sector-minister

CAIRO: Egypt will push development financing as a way to expand private sector engagement, leveraging support obtained during the coronavirus pandemic, with a focus on green projects and sustainable growth, the international cooperation minister said.

The government wants the private sector to play a bigger role, though non-oil private investment and private-sector activity has lagged, and stake sales in state firms have been delayed by market downturns and the pandemic.

State-led economic activity has helped cushion the economic impact of COVID-19.

Egypt is well placed to tap cheap, long-term development financing from lenders like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), which can bolster the private sector while raising governance and environmental standards, International Cooperation Minister Rania al-Mashat told Reuters.

"As we continue to push the frontiers with a green recovery, with an energy strategy that moves into renewables even more forcefully, there are venues, very attractive venues, for such financing, not just for government projects but also for private sector projects.

"And we have announced that 2021 for us is the year of more private sector engagement."

Egypt has a development finance portfolio of nearly $25 billion, attracting $9.9 billion in 2020, a