Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat has discussed with officials from the African Development Bank (AfDB) boosting bilateral cooperation across various sectors, including vaccine manufacture and export to African countries. They also discussed preparations for the 2022-2026 joint strategy.

Solomon Quaynor, Vice President of AfDB for the Private Sector, Infrastructure, and Industrialization, and Malinne Blomberg, AfDB Deputy Director for North Africa and Country Manager for Egypt, represented the bank in the Saturday meeting.

Al-Mashat emphasized the importance of the strategic partnership with AfDB, which contributes to supporting national efforts to achieve development across different sectors. This partnership also boosts development partnerships with the private sector and deepens cooperation between African countries. The Minister also noted that the Ministry of International Cooperation coordinates between the bank and different stakeholders in Egypt to push forward the development efforts. 

For his part, Quaynor expressed that his meetings with relevant officials and the private sector’s representatives, as well as his field visits, underlined Egypt’s success stories in scaling up the private sector’s engagement in development efforts, which shall also be undertaken across Africa. 

Moreover, the meeting addressed the conclusions of the recent consultations between Quaynor and the Holding Company for Biopharmaceuticals and Vaccines (VACSERA), which was coordinated by the Ministry of International Cooperation in order to examine means of enhancing cooperation between the bank and Egypt in the manufacturing of vaccines and transforming Egypt into a regional centre of producing various types of vaccines. Quaynor expressed his interest in this project so as to raise the productive efficiency in this sector and to promote it into becoming the leading program for development cooperation in Africa.

They also delved into the current status of the ongoing cooperation portfolio with the African Development bank, which amounts to $6.74bn allocated to financing 107 projects across sectors of economic and social development, of which $1.1bn were directed to finance 19 private sector entities. 

In addition, they addressed areas of future cooperation between Egypt and the African Development Bank, and examined the proposed strategic areas and national priorities aimed at supporting the Government of Egypt’s program of social and economic development. Officials of the African Development Bank further noted that a delegation from the bank will visit Egypt during the month of September to discuss preparations of the 2022-2026 joint strategy. 

The ongoing portfolio of cooperation between Egypt and the African Development Bank serves various sectors, as in 2021, the Ministry of International Cooperation signed a development financing agreement with AfDB worth €109m, to develop sanitation services in the Luxor governorate; supporting the efforts of the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities. This is in addition to another development financing agreement worth €145m directed to develop efficiency and safety of Egypt’s railways, benefiting the Ministry of Transportation.