05:45 PM
Friday, December 23, 2022
Books – Mustafa Eid:
Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the World Bank Group, announced that the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group approved, in its meeting, a new development financing of $500 million for the government, according to a statement from the Ministry of International Cooperation today, Friday.
Al-Mashat said that this comes in order to support the state’s efforts to expand safety nets and social protection through the “Solidarity and Dignity” program, and to respond to the measures taken by the state to support the lowest-income groups in the face of global economic repercussions and external shocks and mitigate their impact on citizens eligible for cash support, and to integrate groups targeted in productive activities to link them to employment opportunities and enable them to obtain financial services.
She explained that the new phase of cooperation with the World Bank Group in the social protection project “Takaful and Karama” supports the already existing cooperation with the bank to increase investment in human capital, which is a top priority for the Egyptian state to stimulate inclusive and sustainable growth, support the lowest-income groups, and enhance their ability to obtain On job opportunities, skills development, and linking them to banking systems to increase financial inclusion.
The new funding also builds on the success achieved in the previous two phases of the program since 2015, and they were funded at a value of $ 900 million, and they contributed to the inclusion of more than 3.7 million families in the program, or regarding 12.8 million individuals until the end of last June, and women acquired more than 70 percent of the beneficiaries. The project also focuses on Upper Egypt and integrates with presidential initiatives and other projects implemented by the state, according to Al-Mashat.
Al-Mashat stated that the new financing enhances institutional capabilities by providing technical support and investments for the purpose of registration, beneficiary approval, monitoring and verification of payments and accounting systems, and raising the level of the borrower’s social registration system, leading to improving the “Cash Plus” inputs, increasing the use of digital technology, and providing support for the purpose of automation and enhancement. Institutional Ministry of Social Solidarity responsible for the implementation of the project, and related activities of dissemination, communication and raising the level of awareness.
The funding also aims to enhance the economic inclusion and empowerment services of the project, through several actions, including linking the beneficiaries with labor and employment services, providing specific skills training and enabling the aforementioned beneficiaries to access formal financial services, in addition to providing economic inclusion and empowerment services by supporting the process of providing soft financing to those It is selected from beneficiaries within the framework of the Forsa project, through an enhanced and subsidized fund, according to Al-Mashat.
Al-Mashat added that the state has taken upon itself the expansion of social protection systems along with the implementation of economic development plans and structural reforms aimed at maintaining development momentum and achieving sustainable development goals. Parties and bilaterals to enhance these efforts, whether through concessional development funds or technical support.
She emphasized that the social protection program “Takaful and Karama” had a great impact in supporting the lowest-income groups in times of exceptional repercussions that the world went through, especially during the Corona pandemic, and raising the standard of living of vulnerable families through the concerned national authorities.
Al-Mashat explained that the implementation and careful governance of the project and its success in the first and second phases made it a model that can be replicated in many countries and has received wide praise from the World Bank Group, which has already received inquiries from many other countries to apply it to protect the lower-income classes.
The Ministry of International Cooperation had begun to intensify cooperation with multilateral and bilateral development partners following the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war to enhance development cooperation efforts in order to support the state’s priorities in various sectors, and these efforts resulted in many new programs, including two development funds from the World Bank Group and the Development Bank. In addition to funds to support the budget and reform the energy sector, as well as the current funding to expand social protection efforts, which will support the state budget in the current fiscal year.
The new program is part of the concessional development funds that were agreed upon during the current year by multilateral and bilateral development partners, amounting to $13.7 billion, including $11.1 billion for the country’s various development sectors, including $2.4 billion in support of the state’s general budget, $2.6 billion in financing. private sector development, according to the statement
The World Bank Group is one of Egypt’s largest multilateral development partners. The ongoing portfolio of development cooperation between Egypt and the World Bank Group includes 14 projects worth $6.8 billion, in addition to 23 technical support and consultancy projects.
