Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Delivers Opening Speech at "Development Finance to Foster Private Sector-Led Growth & Jobs" Conference, Attended by the Prime Minister

$15.6 billion in development financing from development partners for the private sector from 2020 to May 2025.

Closing the sustainable development finance gap requires restructuring the global financial system to increase fiscal space for developing countries.

We are working to maximize the private sector's benefit from direct and indirect development finance mechanisms.

"HAFIZ" hub bridges the information gap between private sector companies and international development partners.

Banks and financial institutions account for over 40% of development financing to the private sector.

Activation of an investment guarantee mechanism worth €1.8 billion to increase the scope of development financing and available investments from international financial institutions.

Egypt has become an international platform for joint action between multilateral development banks and development partners.

Egypt participates in the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development to showcase its experience in mobilizing blended finance and financing mechanisms for the private sector.

 

H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, delivered the opening speech at the conference organized by the Ministry under the title "Development Finance to Foster Private Sector-Led Growth & Jobs."

 

The conference was held under the patronage and in the presence of H.E. Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister; Lieutenant General Eng. Kamel Al-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport; Mr. Stefano Sannino, Director-General for the Middle East and North Africa at the European Commission; Ms. Gelsomina Vigliotti, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank; Mr. Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation; Mr. Mark Davis, Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; as well as a number of ministers, representatives from the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Industries, business councils, development partners, and ambassadors.

 

H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat emphasized that the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation is organizing this conference at a time when the Egyptian state is seeking to transform into a private sector-led economy based on competitiveness, partnership, and sustainability. Therefore, the conference highlights the role of international partnerships in mobilizing development finance to increase local and foreign private sector investments, with the aim of achieving economic growth and increasing employment, in line with national priorities.

National Structural Reform Program

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat added that the Egyptian government continues to implement its National Structural Reform Program, which is based on three main objectives: consolidating macroeconomic stability to enhance its resilience in the face of external changes through mechanisms such as governing public investments, in addition to improving competitiveness, the business environment, and the investment climate, and driving the green transformation to increase private sector investments. This path is considered the real guarantee to avoid the challenges facing the Egyptian economy in this delicate international circumstance, where international challenges are increasing, especially with escalating geopolitical and security tensions and protectionist measures.

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat pointed to the increasing international calls for "restructuring the global financial system" and reforming "Bretton Woods institutions" to focus more on private sector investments, increase long-term development finance, and expand "blended finance" mechanisms, which contributes to increasing the fiscal space available to developing countries to bridge development finance gaps.

H.E. Minister Al-Mashat affirmed that the financing needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals is estimated at approximately $4 trillion annually, according to UN estimates for 2024, while investments mobilized by the private sector through development finance did not exceed $70 billion, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). From this perspective, increasing development finance for the private sector has become an urgent necessity to boost economic growth.

Economic Diplomacy Framework

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat stressed that the Egyptian state recognizes the importance of these innovative financing mechanisms. Therefore, since 2020, the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation has developed a comprehensive framework for economic diplomacy to increase cooperation and partnership between international financial institutions and the private sector. This aims to expand the provision of financing tools from development partners to the private sector in its comprehensive sense, including large companies, small, medium, and micro-enterprises, as well as startups and entrepreneurs.

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat added that through this framework, they have been able to maximize the private sector's benefit from internationally available tools, both in terms of direct mechanisms such as (development financing, trade finance, direct investments, risk guarantees, and technical support and consultations), and indirect mechanisms such as (feasibility studies, private sector-stimulating reforms, and credit lines for the financial sector).

Bridging the Information Gap

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat pointed out that to bridge the information gap and unify direct communication mechanisms between development partners and the private sector, and to maximize these partnerships, the Ministry launched  "HAFIZ" Hub for Advisory, Finance, and Investment for Enterprises. This hub provides the private sector, in all its sizes and activities, with over 90 services and more than a thousand local and international opportunities, making it a comprehensive, unified hub and an important window to partnership opportunities between the private sector and development partners.

 

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat noted that these efforts have resulted in the formulation and implementation of projects in various and diverse sectors. Development finance provided for these projects from development partners amounted to more than $15.6 billion from 2020 to May 2025, made available by over 30 bilateral and multilateral development partners.

She continued: "It is worth noting that what has been achieved over five years is not limited to financing that opens horizons for the private sector to enter ambitious development projects, attract foreign investments, and increase the international expansion of local companies, but also extends to providing consulting services, technical support, and technology transfer through ongoing technical support projects exceeding $200 million in value, contributing to supporting the private sector by raising its capabilities and fostering its access to new markets through training and awareness programs and consulting services."

Among the most prominent technical support projects implemented is providing the necessary funding for feasibility studies and appointing technical, financial, and legal consultants for public-private partnership projects, which has reduced the time for these procedures from one year to just two months.

Sectors Most Benefiting from Development Finance

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat pointed out that banks and financial institutions have been among the sectors most benefiting from development finance since 2020, accounting for over 40% of the total development finance. She noted that today we are witnessing the signing of an agreement with the Federation of Egyptian Banks to work on maximizing the benefit of development finance for banks and their private sector clients. We are also witnessing the signing of a new grant agreement from the European Investment Bank for the Green Sustainable Industry (GSI) project, which provides development financing mechanisms to support the green transformation in Egyptian industry, reduce emissions, and shift towards renewable energy sources.

H.E. Minister Al-Mashat noted that renewable energy, electricity, and logistics accounted for over 25% of these financings, commending the efforts made by the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, in cooperation with international partners, which contributed to the success of the country platform for the "NWFE" program in attracting $4 billion in development financing for the private sector to implement renewable energy projects with a capacity of 4 GW, in addition to improving the electricity sector's infrastructure. She added that today's conference will witness the signing of three new agreements between international financial institutions and a number of private sector companies to finance three new projects within the "NWFE" program in the fields of wind energy, solar energy, and battery energy storage, as a continuation of achieving the goal of reaching 42% of energy produced from renewable sources by 2030.

In a related context, H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat highlighted that the Climate Investment Fund (CIF) announced the selection of Egypt among only seven countries worldwide to benefit from its Industry Decarbonization Investment program, which enhances efforts to reduce emissions in the industrial sector. This program provides development financing and technical support worth $1 billion to the seven countries to support their efforts in attracting more green investments.

Investment Guarantee Mechanism with the European Union

The Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation announced the launch of a coordination mechanism for the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) guarantees, which will provide guarantees for projects worth €1.8 billion. This mechanism provides guarantees to a wide range of international financial institutions, including: the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the German Development Bank (KfW), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Italian Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), and other institutions. This will encourage them to inject more development financing into the private sector, which mobilizes more private capital for priority development sectors in Egypt, led by renewable energy, green transformation, food security, human capital investment, infrastructure, and others.

She reiterated that the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, in its capacity as the national coordinator for economic relations with the European Union, is working to implement this mechanism in full coordination with the European Commission and the EU Delegation in Egypt through the the "HAFIZ" Hub for Advisory, Finance, and Investment for Enterprises.

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat mentioned that to maximize these efforts, the conference is witnessing the signing of an agreement between the Ministry, the Federation of Industries, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, and business associations to disseminate all these services provided by development partners to thousands of their members in various governorates.

Supporting Private Sector Expansion in Africa

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat continued: "In light of the directives of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to consolidate cooperation with African countries to advance the 2063 Development Agenda and achieve regional integration, our international partnership with international financial institutions allows Egyptian companies to play a more impactful developmental role in the African continent by financing their expansions and increasing their presence in various vital sectors such as manufacturing, renewable energy, food security, and other sectors."

She confirmed that the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, through economic diplomacy, is working to enhance South-South cooperation and open new markets for Egyptian companies, either through development financing or through Egypt's joint committees with friendly and sisterly countries, to consolidate Egypt's role as a development and investment hub on the continent.

She also touched upon the Ministry's readiness to launch the "National Narrative for Economic Development," in coordination with relevant ministries and entities, and with the support of the knowledge partner, the World Bank Group. The narrative will present the reforms required to achieve the structural transformation in the Egyptian economic model towards tradable and export-oriented sectors to increase exports and encourage local industry and foreign direct investments, thereby contributing to promote long-term economic stability.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat affirmed that these intensive national endeavors coincide with the ongoing preparations to participate in the "Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4)," scheduled to be held in Seville, Spain, which is taking place under exceptional international circumstances.

She referred to what His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi emphasized in his speech at the high-level meeting in preparation for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development on June 3rd, where His Excellency stressed that "Egypt looks forward to reaching a consensus on effective steps to continue reforming the global financial structure and international financial institutions, improving existing financing mechanisms, and introducing new innovative mechanisms, similar to debt swaps, and establishing integrated financing frameworks to stimulate private sector investments... as well as enhancing the interconnectedness between the implementation of the 'Addis Ababa Action Agenda' for financing for development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals."

H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat underscored that through participation in this global forum, Egypt is keen to present its practical experience in mobilizing blended finance and innovative mechanisms for the private sector, in addition to its experience in debt swaps for development and investment, and organizing a number of events and activities during this global conference, in partnership with the Kingdom of Spain (Conference Chair), South Africa (G20 President), and a number of development partners and international institutions, reflecting the efforts they have made over the past years.

H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat emphasized that the conference held today, with the participation of the Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation, officials from the European Union and the European Investment Bank, and a group of international financial institutions, development partners, and the private sector, is strong evidence of the significant development in their joint relations, and proves that Egypt has become an international platform for joint action between multilateral development banks and international partners.