Egypt is the third largest beneficiary of the total appropriations from the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), amounting to $12.7bn, according to Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development.
El-Said, who is also Egypt’s Governor at IsDB, said that Egypt is one of the bank’s founding members, joining the bank’s membership in 1974. The country also has a permanent seat on the IsDB’s Board of Executive Directors.
The minister added that Egypt is the bank’s seventh largest contributing country, and the owner of the largest number of shares, with 357,965. The country’s share reflects 7.07% of the bank’s capital subscription, amounting to $5bn.
In October 2018, Egypt and the IsDB signed an agreement to establish a representative office for the bank in the former.
In the same month, a strategic three-year cooperation agreement was signed between the two sides, for the period from 2019 to 2021, which included providing financing of about $3bn for several projects.
In April 2019, Egypt participated in the opening of the 44th annual meeting session of the IsDB’s Board of Governors, which was held in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on 5 and 6 April 2019.
In 2020, Egypt signed up to the financing programme provided by the Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), the IsDB’s trade arm. The agreement signed includes providing $700m to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), of which $300m has been disbursed so far.
Another $400m of finances, to be provided to the General Authority for Supply Commodities, was agreed upon, of which $282m has been disbursed to date.
The IsDB was established within the framework of the Statement of Determination issued by the Conference of Islamic Finance Ministers, which was held in the Saudi city of Jeddah in December 1973.
