By Enyichukwu Enemanna
President Abdel El-Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt has lauded the African Development Bank (AfDB) for its programmes geared towards assisting the African continent weather its economic challenges.
He said the bank has closely worked with Egypt to mobilise international climate financing to address the country’s climate challenges, building the resilience of vulnerable systems and promoting sustainable development.
El-Sisi said the Just Green Transition (JGT) initiative had a pipeline of investment-ready projects worth 14.8 billion dollars to tackle the Nexus of Water, Food and Energy.
The Egyptian leader made these known when he received a delegation from the bank led by its President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina in Cairo, AfDB said in a statement.
Adesina was in Egypt to familiarize himself with preparations ahead of the Bank’s 2023 Annual Meetings scheduled for May 22 to May 26 in the resort city of Sharm El Sheikh, the statement added.
About 13 heads of state and government are expected to join the Bank’s Governors, executive directors, development partners and management at the meetings where discussions will centre on Mobilising Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa.
According to President El-Sisi, Egypt looks forward to continuing and increasing cooperation with the bank in various development sectors. He also appealed to the bank to lead the mobilisation of financing for its water pillar projects.
AfDB president in response said the bank had mobilised 2.3 billion dollars exceeding the initial target of 1.4 billion dollars, and the bank was supporting Egypt’s water desalination projects.
The bank’s president praised Egypt’s bold efforts to tap into private sector finance for green growth initiatives.
“The government of Egypt plans to issue a green bond in the Chinese capital markets by the end of June this year.
“The Green Panda bond with a face value of 500 million dollars will be issued in Chinese Renminbi.
“This will be the first time for an African country to issue a bond in the Chinese capital markets,” he said.
Adesina said the bank was impressed by the infrastructure and facilities the Egyptian government had established in Sharm El Sheikh, which successfully hosted last 2022 COP 27.
He reiterated the commitment of the bank to supporting countries across Africa achieve accelerated development in spite the recent economic shocks and geo-political tensions affecting them.
