Egyptian Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat held a meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, headed by Ivana Vladkova Hollar.
The meeting reviewed the reform measures that the Ministry intends to implement within a package of reforms scheduled to secure US$ 1.3 billion financing from the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
The meeting outlined three key reforms, which relate to climate-related standards and procedures in the project selection phase within the economic and social development plan.
These expand the scope of projects under the Country Platform for Green Projects in the NWFE program, as well as for the asset registration pilot project, alongside conducting analyses of climate risks associated with the geographical location of these assets.
Mashat assured that the Country Platform for the NWFE program is at the core of the measures implemented by the state as part of resilience and sustainability financing.
She affirmed that the ministry, in its role of supervising and implementing the platform, has taken rapid and proactive steps to add new projects.
Agreements and projects
In March, a project was signed to construct a seawater desalination plant in Ain Sokhna as part of the water plans, and a second project was signed to develop the Zafarana plant as part of the energy plans, implemented by TAQA Arabia and Voltalia.
An agreement was also signed between the ministry and the Norwegian company Scatec to cooperate in including Scatec’s renewable energy projects within the energy pillar of the program.
Scatec additionally signed a power purchase agreement with Egypt Aluminum to establish a one GW solar power plant to provide clean energy to the aluminum complex in Nagaa Hammadi.
Mashat reviewed the implementation of the Country Platform for the “NWFE” program, particularly regarding Egypt’s energy pillar, which has attracted development financing for the private sector worth $3.9 billion in just two years to implement renewable energy projects with a capacity of 4.2 GW.
The ministry seeks to increase financing to $10 billion to implement renewable energy capacities of about 10 GW, which supports Egypt’s renewable energy capabilities.
Egypt is eager to secure RSF funding from the IMF as part of its implementation of the National Climate Change Strategy 2050 and its Nationally Determined Contributions plan.
In coordination with several ministries, the government is implementing a series of reforms under the RSF, which include focusing on:
- Accelerating decarbonization
- Analyzing climate-related financial risks
- Enhancing climate data and risk management, building adaptive capacity, strengthening the financial sector’s resilience to climate change
- Supporting climate finance
- Identifying, measuring, and disclosing the impact of investment plans, programs, and projects on national climate change goals.
