The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has extended $12.8 billion in finances to Egypt over four and a half decades of cooperation, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said has stated.

El-Said, who also serves as Egypt’s governor at the IDB’s Council of Governors, made her statements on the back of the issuance of an IDB report Sunday that reveals the bank’s business and projects in Egypt.

El-Said underlined the importance of benefiting from IDB facilities, especially for the private sector, which has been hit severely by the Covid-19 crisis, adding that Egypt is eager to engage with the readiness and response programme that the IDB has adopted to address pandemic impacts, aiming at exchanging experiences for the same purpose.

Meanwhile, President of the IDB Bandar Haggar said the bank is currently implementing 57 projects in the Egyptian market at a cost of $3.8 billion, stressing that the bank is eager to provide all kinds of support to the Egyptian economy in its fight against the repercussions of Covid-19.

He added that the finances that the IDB has extended to Egypt include $230 million for the private sector, provided by the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), and $8.9 billion for trade finance through the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

The bank also provided finances worth $1.8 billion from other IDB funds and programmes. In addition, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), which follows the IDB), provided Egypt with $2.4 billion as trade operations insurance and $3 billion in new insurance commitments, according to Haggar.

Haggar added that the energy sector in Egypt is the sector that received the majority of IDB finance, including over 19 projects with a total cost exceeding $1.6 billion (constituting 80.7 percent of the bank’s total contributing finance in Egypt).

He declared that the bank financed a number of projects in urban development, industry, mining and transport, at $169 million (representing 8.7 percent of total financing), while the bank financed micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMSEs) with $81 million (constituting 4.1 percent of total financing).

Additionally, the IDB allocated a total of $77.5 million to health and agriculture projects in the domestic market.

Regarding the IDB’s future business plan in Egypt, Haggar revealed that it will focus on development challenges in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, using new and innovative tools like value-added chains in order to stimulate the private sector, civil society institutions, and think tanks, in addition to helping local communities achieve economic and social development.