– The German government has committed 258 million euros in debt swaps, grants, and concessional financing to support Egypt’s development goals, in alignment with a joint political declaration between the two countries.

– Egypt and Germany have a robust development cooperation portfolio totaling approximately 1.6 billion euros, funding 30 projects across various sectors such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, sanitation, irrigation, and vocational training.

– The European Union is gearing up to provide a substantial USD 8.08 billion assistance package to bolster Egypt’s economy, within the context of ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Sudan that could exacerbate the country’s financial challenges.

Minister of International Cooperation announced that the German side pledged to make euros 258 million available in the form of debt swaps, grants, and concessional financing.

The action came within the framework of the joint political declaration between Egypt and Germany.

The development cooperation portfolio between Egypt and Germany amounts to approximately 1.6 billion euros, through which 30 projects were financed in the form of loans, technical support grants, and financial contributions. 

Many sectors benefited from this portfolio, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, sanitation, and irrigation, water support, solid waste management, migration, labor market, private sector innovation, technical education, vocational training, urban development, administrative reform, women, youth and social development.

The Ministry of International Cooperation, last November, issued NWFE’s first follow-up report which reviewed developments in mobilizing innovative development financing and private sector investments for the “NWFE” program, the nexus of water, food, and energy, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the launch of the program. 

Last June, a debt swap agreement worth 54 million euros was signed for the benefit of the transportation network development project to integrate renewable energies into the network, transferring electricity and strengthening the network.

The project contributes in particular to the establishment of two substations and connecting two wind farms (the “Amyunt” farm and the Red Sea wind farm) with a capacity of 500 megawatts each to the national transmission network.

The Ministry is working to benefit from international pledges for climate financing to enhance efforts to transfer to a green economy and implement national strategies in the field of climate action.

In another development, The European Union is preparing a USD8.08 billion assistance package to support Egypt’s economy amidst concerns that ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Sudan may worsen the country’s financial challenges, according to a report by the Financial Times.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, accompanied by the prime ministers of Greece, Italy, and Belgium, is set to visit Cairo on Sunday to finalize and announce the agreement, as per the newspaper’s report.