The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Abdel El-Sisi, has lauded the African Development Bank (AfDB) for helping the continent deal with impact of global economic challenges.
A statement issued by AfDB said the Egyptian leader made the commendation when he received a delegation from the bank led by its President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina in Cairo.
Adesina was in Egypt to familiarise
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.
According to President El-Sisi, Egypt looks forward to continuing and increasing cooperation with the bank in various development sectors.
He said the bank was closely working 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.
He appealed to the bank to lead the mobilisation of financing for its water pillar projects.
AfDB president 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.