The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank approved a loan of USD 271 million to finance Egypt’s Food Security and Economic Resilience Support Program in order to support efforts to lessen the effect of the global shocks from the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the domestic economy and to maintain resilience.
Support for the Food Security Response and Build Private Sector and Fiscal Resilience are the two main parts of the initiative.
The first part aims to boost national agricultural productivity and lessen hazards to persons in vulnerable situations’ access to food.
The programme will support broad-based growth by boosting agricultural production and sustainability, expanding local farmers’ access to subsidised fertilisers, and providing them with more incentives to cultivate wheat.
The second element will aid in improving Egypt’s fiscal and private sector resilience since a strong private sector may assist lessen the negative economic and social effects of exogenous shocks.
Director General for North Africa of the African Development Bank, Mohamed El Azizi, explains.
“This new operation incorporates both structural and emergency precautions.
Its goals are to “strengthen food security and enhance private sector and public financial resilience.”
The African Development Bank and its co-financiers provided USD 97.3 million in stand-alone budget support for Egypt, while the African Emergency Food Production Facility provided USD 173.7 million in total funding that was approved by the Board of Directors in May 2022.
An original member of the African Development Bank Group is Egypt.
Since the Bank Group’s lending operations got underway in 1974, it has funded projects in the infrastructure development (transport, power, water supply, and sanitation), communications, finance, industry, and social sectors, as well as capacity building and economic and institutional reforms.