For the first time since her election as head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), President Odile Renaud-Basso will visit Egypt on 21 and 22 April for high-level meetings with the authorities and the business community.

Ahead of her visit, President Renaud-Basso said: “Egypt was one of the few countries that did not plunge into recession last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Egypt was hit hard. The EBRD is committed to supporting the country in these challenging times to help overcome the economic setbacks and to continue delivering on reforms in order to achieve a sound, sustainable, and inclusive recovery.”

During her visit, the EBRD president will meet Egypt's President  Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi; Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly; Minister of International Cooperation and EBRD Governor Rania Al-Mashat; Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker; Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities and Chairman of the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) Assem El-Gazzar; and Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Youssry Shaarawy.

Renaud-Basso will also meet Governor of Cairo Khaled Abdel-Aal Abdel-Hafez, Governor of Alexandria Taher El-Sherif, officials from the Egyptian National Railways, and representatives of the private sector, the EBRD’s key business partner in its activities.

Supporting Egypt’s transition to a green economy, the EBRD president will sign agreements to develop sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy in the country.

“We welcome the EBRD’s president in their first visit to the region. The visit reflects close relations between Egypt and the EBRD, which is one of Egypt’s most important development partners. We expect that the visit will open new horizons of partnership with the bank,” said Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat.

Renaud-Baso is the first woman to be elected as the president of the EBRD.

Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of its operations in 2012, the bank has invested close to €7.2 billion in 127 projects in the country.