Leveraging partnerships to drive adaptation and resilience in Egypt

At the event, we welcomed key figures from government, the private sector and development finance, to explore how partnerships are being leveraged to drive adaptation and resilience in the country on the road to COP27.  Egypt, working in partnership with investment from the UK, has made significant progress in becoming a hub for renewable energy. Now, Egypt is not only self-sustaining but is also beginning to export the renewable energy it generates.

Amal-Lee Amin, Managing Director and Head of Climate Change at BII led the panel conversation at the event with a reminder that 3.3 billion people are highly vulnerable to climate change, with the majority in Africa. The panel then explored the importance of deepening collaborative efforts between the UK and its Egyptian partners, and H.E. Dr Hala El Said, Minister of Planning an d Economic Development, called for renewable energy to be addressed “in a very systematic way”.

The government’s commitment to sustainable development is evidenced through plans to “utilise water from the River Nile as much as possible by turning most of Egypt’s operations into green operations”, including desalination projects, hydroelectric projects and plans to have completed the first green port in time for COP27. What has complemented these aspirations and will continue to be a key driving force unlocking significant gains, according to Ayman Soliman, CEO of the Egyptian Sovereign Wealth  Fund, is “strong investment from the UK”.

Overall, emphasis was placed on the importance of how progressive partnerships can help develop and deliver clean and reliable infrastructure projects in Egypt. Key to this, the panel agreed, is mobilising financing for key green projects that will future-proof jobs and drive sustainable and inclusive growth as Egypt prepares to host COP27 this November.

Our full line up of speakers were:

• HE Dr. Hala El Said, Minister of Planning & Economic Development
• Mohamed Abdallah, CEO, Vodafone Egypt
• Ayman Soliman, CEO, Sovereign Fund Egypt
• Dr. Sherif Elkholy, Partner and Head of MENA- Actis
• Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, an Ex officio board member of the Department
  for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and interim Chair of the Green Finance Institute
• Dr Amal-Lee Amin (moderator), MD and Head of Climate, BII