Photo courtesy of Egypt's cabinet
The ministry reviewed plans with the IFC and WB to implement financial inclusion programmes to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and provide technical assistance to factories to reduce carbon emissions. It also discussed initiatives to support pharmaceutical manufacturers in Africa.
The meeting included Minister of Industry Khaled Hashem, WB Regional Director for Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti, Stephane Guimbert, and IFC Country Manager for Egypt, Saad Sabra.
According to the statement, the industry ministry stated that it will also continue to collaborate with the WB to enhance Egypt’s National Industrial Strategy.
The strategy aims to boost competitiveness, expand production, and tackle structural problems in the manufacturing sector, focusing on five to seven key industries.
It also aims to increase the industrial sector's contribution to Egypt’s GDP to 20 percent, up from 14 percent currently, by 2030.
Furthermore, the strategy targets the creation of seven to eight million job opportunities. It also plans to ensure that the green economy constitutes five percent of GDP and provide technical support to small factories to integrate them into the formal economy.
According to Hashem, the World Bank announced that it would support Egypt’s efforts to develop and implement an economic database for Egypt's industrial sector.
The database will assist in improving communication with SMEs, which accounted for around 98 percent of Egypt’s private sector in 2025, and expedite decision-making. It would also provide foreign investors with information on land allocation, policies, Egypt's economic conditions, energy consumption, and available technologies in the industrial sector.
Hashem added that the ministry will also benefit from the IFC’s expertise in developing fund-specific policies to establish new sustainable financing mechanisms. These mechanisms include launching industrial investment funds that involve citizens' participation to support sustainable economic growth.
Egypt aims to enhance the participation of the private sector in the economy as per Egypt’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The IMF has recently approved a new $2.3 billion tranche to support capital flows to Egypt as it transitions to a private sector-led growth model.
Similarly, the World Bank continues to support Egypt's economy through its $7 billion Country Partnership Framework, which provides technical support to the ministry and establishes mechanisms to support the industrial sector.
The IFC is also a technical advisor to the Egyptian government for a planned offering of 11 airports. It has invested nearly $10 billion in development projects in Egypt and has announced five new projects to support SMEs.
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