The 2019 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) wrapped up on Sunday. The meetings witnessed a high level of participation from the Egyptian government, headed by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
During various meetings with international financial institutions, the Egyptian delegation set Africa as a top priority when discussing funds, boosting regional economic cooperation between African states, and promoting the continent’s sustainable development.
Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Sahar Nasr agreed with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to promote regional integration projects in African countries.
Over Nasr’s meeting with Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UNDP, both sides also agreed on supporting entrepreneurship and encouraging investments. By doing so, it will be a step towards eliminating poverty, creating job opportunities and improving the countries’ infrastructure.
Egypt is keen on establishing partnerships with UN agencies to contribute and attract new investments in African countries and stimulate GDP growth.
For his part, Steiner praised Egypt’s successful economic reforms that led to the improvement in the country’s economic indicators and investment climate. He assured that Egypt’s has a key role on both regional and international sides.
In the same context, Nasr met with CEO of the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Adam S Boehler where both sides followed up on PM Madbouly’s recent visit to Washington DC.
MIIC and DFC also agreed on boosting electricity interconnection projects between African states. Additionally, the two sides discussed DFC’s future funds for Egypt’s private sector particularly in transportation, renewable energy, and small and medium enterprises.
Nasr called on the DFC to strengthen its presence in Africa, including Egypt, while Boehler praised Egypt’s efforts to invest in its human capital in light of the country’s young population advantage.
Additionally, Nasr met with the President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Bandar Hajjar where both parties announced the inauguration of the bank’s regional office in Egypt next month.
The IDB’s regional office will cover several African countries in addition to some Middle Eastern countries. They also discussed the priorities of the bank’ strategy in Egypt up until 2021 to support several developmental projects in the sectors of transportation, education, and electricity.
Nasr also asserted the importance of the bank’ strategy to supply the needs of the Egyptian people and support the private sector in light of the government’s keenness on the private sector’s greater role in developmental projects.
