Egypt receives $500 million from AfDB to support governance reforms
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a $500-million loan to finance Egypt’s Economic Governance and Energy Support Program Phase III.
This is the last in a series of three annual loans worth a total of $1.5 billion covering the fiscal years 2015-2016 to 2017-2018 for the Economic Governance and Energy Support Program Based Operation.
The program supports Egypt’s comprehensive structural reform agenda aimed to drive fiscal consolidation, strengthen governance and efficiency in the energy sector, and enhance the business operating environment, especially for micro, small and medium-sized businesses. The current tranche will help meet the Government’s financing requirement in 2017-2018.
The Egyptian authorities have demonstrated sustained commitment to the implementation of reforms supported under the program, including supporting business, investment and industrial growth, improving energy sustainability and security.
The reforms underpin Egypt’s economic turnaround with a clear focus on helping support the poorest via improved targeting of social spending on health, education, and job creation.
“The Bank’s support will help the Government’s reform agenda, provide further fiscal space to help the most vulnerable segments of the population, and improve the quality of life and well-being of its citizens,” said Abdoulaye Coulibaly, Acting Director of the Bank’s Governance and Public Finance Management Coordination Unit.
The Bank’s Country Manager for Egypt, Malinne Blomberg, says the broad-based reforms are expected to lead to further inflows and investments in the country, which in turn will contribute to job creation.
The African Development Bank collaborated closely with development partners, including the World Bank, which provided parallel financing of $1.15 billion in December 2017.
The African Development Bank currently has a portfolio of 30 projects in Egypt with a total commitment of $2.4 billion.
