Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, received on Monday Christian Yoka, Regional Director for the French Development Agency (AFD) in East Africa, to discuss the Agency’s strategy in Egypt for 2021-2025.
During the meeting, the Minister congratulated Yoka on the 80th anniversary of the AFD as well as the 15th anniversary of its partnership with Egypt. Al-Mashat underlined that Egypt and France share deep-rooted political, cultural and economic relations, which have recently witnessed great momentum.
The Minister referred to the pivotal role of the private sector and French businessmen in promoting trade and investment relations between Egypt and France, as France is currently one of Egypt’s most important trading partners, with investments amounting to $6.7bn from 650 French companies in the Egyptian market.
In regards to the new strategy for 2021-2025, Al-Mashat noted that meetings will be held to discuss the strategy in detail in the presence of relevant stakeholders.
Al-Mashat stressed that climate change is at the top of the Egyptian government’s priorities, particularly in regards to the impact of climate change on Africa, adding that the African continent needs to take greater steps in regards to climate change action as it is the most vulnerable continent.
For his part, Yoka referred to the strong bilateral relations with Egypt and the diverse cooperation portfolio that cuts across several sectors, adding that Egypt remains to be a key partner.
Yoka also hinted at four future projects to be signed between Egypt and the French Development Agency, which builds on the agreement that was signed between the Government of Egypt and the French Government in June 2021.
He also referred to the AFD’s programme in partnership with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) named “Transforming Financial Systems for Climate” (TFSC) in 17 countries, which aims to provide technical support for the implementation of projects worth €150m, and granting €100m to the National Bank of Egypt.
Egypt’s total current portfolio of cooperation with France amounts to €1bn across several sectors, including transport, electricity, small and medium enterprises, housing, agriculture, health, and environment.
