Egypt and Germany have signed a new development financing agreement grant as part of their 2019 Financial and Technical Cooperation agreements towards the implementation of projects in the sectors of energy, administrative reform, technical education, vocational training, and water resources

Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat and Cairo’s German Ambassador Cyrill Jean Nunn signed a grant worth €57.7 million earlier today, with the plan of implementing 6 projects in the aforementioned sectors.

Al-Mashat noted that these projects will be implemented in cooperation between Egypt’s relevant ministries and the KfW Development Bank, along with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

Her ministry is looking to optimize development cooperation with multilateral and bilateral development partners in order to provide the needed development funds for implementing different projects across Egypt’s sectors, which is also in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030, Al-Mashat added.

The Ministry’s ongoing cooperation portfolio with Germany amounts to €1.7 billion, which has funded 30 projects so far either through loans or technical and financial grants benefiting many sectors. 

Al-Mashat announced her appreciation to the cooperation with Germany, be it at the level of signing financing development agreements in the form of grants between the Ministry of International Cooperation, relevant ministries and the GIZ, or in the form of the projects funded by the  Egyptian-German Debt Swap program and are implemented in cooperation of Egypt’s line ministries and the KfW Development Bank.

The Minister pointed that the Ministry is working towards advancing global partnerships to promote effective economic and development cooperation with multilateral and bilateral development partners, through the three principles of Economic Diplomacy; Multi Stakeholders Platform, the Official Development Assistance mapping to the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Global Partnerships Narrative that puts “People at Core” and “Projects in Action,” and “Purpose as the Driver”.

She reiterated that the partnerships with the German side work towards enhancing joint cooperation within the framework of the country's development priorities.

The German Ambassador emphasized the importance of economic and development cooperation with Egypt and the keenness of the German side to enhance this cooperation in the upcoming period so that it would encompass all fields. He expressed how glad he is to sign the 2 financial and technical cooperation agreements to finance development projects across various sectors.

The German Ambassador praised the Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs) that the Ministry of International Cooperation holds to strengthen partnerships between all development partners, government entities, and the private sector, pointing out the importance of the MSPs in solidifying cooperation efforts between all stakeholders. He expressed his aspiration to conduct field visits to development projects in Egypt that are funded by Germany.

Within the framework of the Egyptian-German Debt Swap program, the first phase concluded with an amount of €70 million, where it managed to implement several projects across the fields of school nurturing, enhancing the quality of education, rehabilitating hydroelectric stations, developing Assiut Barrage, in addition to improving the quality of drinking water and sanitation services; whereas through the second phase, the German side had made available € 10 million to the second tranche, benefiting the Ministry of Education supporting the second phase of the Education Quality Support project.

Through the program’s second tranche, Germany has provided Egypt with € 80 million, where several projects have been implemented, one of which is the Investing in Human Capital project in Upper Egypt benefiting the World Food Programme (WFP), in partnership with Egypt’s Ministry of Education.

In November 2020, the Government of Germany has approved to provide Egypt with € 80 million worth of the third tranche of the second phase of the Swap Program. Currently, both sides are agreeing on the list of proposed projects to be funded though this tranche.