Egypt has signed an Egyptian-Danish Energy Partnership Program (2019-2022) agreement that will push forward Egypt’s green transformation and investments in renewable energy.
The agreement was signed by Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat and Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker, and Denmark’s Energy Agency, which falls under the country’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities.
Minister Rania Al-Mashat said that the new partnership agreement aims to create a platform to push for closer cooperation between Egyptian governmental institutions and their Danish counterparts. This is set to take place through strategic cooperation in the energy field beginning from this year.
She added that the agreement aims to consolidate the two countries’ commercial relations, and exchange experiences in the field of technology and clean energy between them.
The agreement comes as part of Global Partnerships for Effective Development Cooperation multi-stakeholder platform, launched in April by Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation. The platform will work with Egypt’s multilateral and bilateral development partners, and aims to ensure that development interventions are prioritised and are strongly aligned to maximise impact and achieve sustainability.
Additionally, the agreement helps achieve Goal 7 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will see a doubling in the improvement of energy efficiency. It also aims to accelerate Egypt’s implementation of its sustainable energy strategy, which was adopted by the government in October 2016, and is set to run until 2035.
The strategy aims to improve financial sustainability and the operational efficiency of the energy sector, as well as ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy sources.
Through the New Global Partnership Narrative, a human-centred model of economic growth was adopted to accelerate the achievement of the UN’s 17 SDGs and ensure that “no one is left behind”. For that reason, it focuses on three pillars, namely: People at the Core; Projects in Action; and Purpose as the Driver.
As part of the first pillar, Egypt has given top priority to improve the lives of its citizens, whilst pushing them towards realising their full potential. Under the second pillar, projects are implemented across multiple sectors including in education, transportation, water desalination, renewable energy, entrepreneurship, and women empowerment to answer to each of the SDGs. For the third pillar, development partnerships are set to be established, to generate sustained and inclusive growth in a rapidly changing world.
For his part, Shaker said that his ministry will form a joint committee with the Danish side to serve as a forum for comprehensive strategic dialogue between the two countries. The committee will discuss energy sector cooperation, to reach decisions on the strategic cooperation programme between the two sides.
He stressed that the agreement signed with the Danish side supports Egypt’s capabilities in pushing forward the country’s green transformation. It is set to develop plans to ensure nationwide access to affordable clean energy and implementing wind energy projects. The minister added that Egypt’s energy strategy seeks to increase the country’s renewable energy production to over 42% of its needs.
Denmark’s Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities, Dan Jørgensen, expressed his pleasure with the new energy agreement, saying “We need to speed up the fight against climate change. I am very pleased to be establishing this cooperation on renewable energy with Egypt.”
He added, “The Egyptian government’s strong dedication to renewable energy, combined with excellent wind and solar resources, offers Egypt a great opportunity to become a regional, green pioneer, and I am delighted that Denmark will be working closely alongside Egypt on this journey.”
For his part, Denmark’s Ambassador to Egypt Svend Olling praised the cooperation between the two countries, which aims to confront the increasing challenges the energy sector faces.
He noted that Denmark is a leading global partner in the renewable energy and green transformation fields.
Egyptian-Danish cooperation extends back to 1969, with about $560m in investments having been made in several different fields in this period. The investments have been channelled towards new and renewable energy, water and sanitation, environment, culture and housing.
