Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mahmoud Esmat, held talks with a World Bank delegation on expanding cooperation in financial sustainability, power sector development and innovative financing mechanisms to support electricity and renewable energy infrastructure projects.
The meeting, held at the ministry’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital, was attended virtually by Minister of Planning and Economic Development Ahmed Rostom. The World Bank delegation was led by Neeraj Verma, Practice Manager for Infrastructure Finance and Investment.
Senior officials from the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company and the Ministry of Electricity also participated in the discussions.
The talks focused on strengthening cooperation to modernise Egypt’s unified electricity grid, expand its capacity to integrate renewable energy, secure financing for clean energy projects and examine proposals to establish a financial guarantee fund for electricity and renewable energy infrastructure.
Participants discussed the challenges associated with long-term infrastructure financing, including funding costs, guarantee requirements and financial obligations.
They also reviewed proposals to establish a dedicated financial guarantee fund aimed at encouraging greater private-sector investment by providing payment, debt-service and contract termination guarantees, helping reduce investment risks and improve access to financing.
The discussions covered digital transformation, capacity building, workforce training and the transition from a conventional electricity grid to a smart grid, alongside ongoing restructuring efforts across the electricity sector.
The two sides also reviewed Egypt’s electricity interconnection projects, which aim to position the country as a regional energy hub linking Africa, Asia and Europe, in line with the National Energy Strategy, which targets increasing the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix to 45% within the next two years.
Esmat praised the longstanding partnership between Egypt’s electricity sector and the World Bank, describing the institution as a key development partner that has played a significant role in financing power generation projects and upgrading the national electricity grid.
He said the ministry is continuing to work closely with international financial institutions to support the country’s sustainable development goals, improve electricity services, strengthen the national grid and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy projects.
The minister also stressed the government’s commitment to technology transfer, local manufacturing and expanding private-sector participation in renewable energy projects through strategic partnerships, noting that Egypt is working to attract additional domestic and foreign investment into the sector.
For his part, Rostom reaffirmed the government’s close partnership with the World Bank Group in supporting Egypt’s development agenda through sectoral studies and innovative financing solutions.
He said the proposed infrastructure financing and guarantee mechanism being developed with the World Bank could serve as a model for mobilising innovative infrastructure finance, expanding access to local-currency financing and strengthening public-private partnerships, in line with Egypt’s strategy to increase the private sector’s contribution to economic growth.
