SDG Joint Fund Component 1 – Egypt SDG Financing Strategy Government of Egypt-UN Steering Committee Meeting

Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

It my great honour as the co-chair to welcome all of you to this steering committee meeting of the Joint Programme titled “Egypt SDGs financing strategy” funded by the UN Joint SDG Fund. Five UN Organizations, namely, ILO, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNICEF and UN WOMEN, are jointly implementing this programme in close collaboration with the Government of Egypt. 

Let me express the sincere gratitude to H.E Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and team from the Ministry for the exemplary leadership and guidance on this joint programme thus far, in their capacity as the Government focal point for this joint programme.

The presence of Ministers, deputy and assistant Minsters and top management from 13 Government entities today shows the commitment Egypt places on SDGs and SDGs financing. As the UN system we highly appreciate this level of ownership and collaboration. Let me also warmly welcome Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda, who is the best resource person to deliver the keynote address on the theme of SDGs financing.

As opening remarks to this committee, I want to highlight three points:  

Firstly, the world urgently needs to focus on financing to salvage the SDGs: Globally even before the pandemic the world was not on track towards financing of SDGs. In Africa, UNCTAD had estimated an annual SDG financing gap of $200 billion prior to COVID. As Egypt’s VNR 2021 shows,   COVID-19 has further exacerbated this situation by slowing down the progress towards SDGs while dealing a heavy blow to the various financing flows towards SDGs. The preliminary estimates of recovery cost from COVID-19 for Africa is billed at $154 billion adding to the pre-existing financing gap of SDGs[1]. Hence, we need to focus on SDG financing more than ever to bring back SDGs on track. This joint programme provides an opportunity for us to do just that.

Secondly, convergence of processes will be the key to enhance SDG financing in Egypt:  Egypt has always been a front-runner when it comes to SDGs implementation and SDGs financing. There are several significant efforts made by Egypt with regard to SDGs financing.

Egypt is already experimenting and exploring with several innovative financing instruments to finance SDGs.  For example, under the leadership of Ministry of Finance, Egypt was the first country in the MENA region to issue the Green bonds last year. The proceeds from these bonds are earmarked for several SDGs. IMF conducted some preliminary costing of selected SDGs for Egypt, which supported to the development of the medium-term revenue strategy (MTRS).

Further, UN is currently exploring with the ministry of Finance the issuance of SDGs-linked Bonds and development of a framework to support the same.

The Ministry of Planning and Ministry of Environment collaborated to announce an ambitious target of 50% public investment in green projects by 2024/2025.

When it comes to mapping of financing flows to SDGs, the Ministry of International Cooperation made pioneering efforts in mapping ODA financing flows with SDGs. I assume, Dr. Rania will touch upon some of this work today’s discussion session.

Central Bank of Egypt have taken several measures towards mainstreaming sustainability within the Banking system.

While the NCW has been working closely with Ministry of Finance and UN Women on gender mainstreaming of national budget.

At the same time, there are several efforts globally on accelerating SDG financing, Dr. Mohieldin will touch upon some of these efforts.  

Hence, we need convergence of these various efforts to make the next big-step in enhancing SDGs financing in Egypt. This joint programme hopes to provide an entry point in this direction by providing a cooperation mechanism for us to discuss our ongoing efforts, identify key challenges for SDG Financing and device collective solutions. 

Thirdly, Egypt can be a global role-model in developing a clear and credible SDGs financing strategy. Globally very few countries, especially among large developing countries, currently have a comprehensive SDGs financing strategy. Hence, Egypt can emerge a global success story if it can deliver on a credible SDGs financing strategy. It won’t be an easy task. Some key pieces of information are essential for such a strategy, namely, we need to know how much SDGs will cost in Egypt or how much to invest in SDGs ? how much of our current financing flows go towards the SDGs ? finally, what are the new opportunities to enhance financing of SDGs, especially through innovative financing instruments ?

This joint programme focuses on these three questions by enhancing our knowledge and capacities. I hope that our collaboration on this front will help the Government to capitalize on these building blocks to deliver a solid SDGs financing strategy for Egypt.

Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, let me once again express the deep appreciation of the UN system for your presence today.

We look froward to your valuable insights and guidance.

[1] https://unctad.org/osgstatement/unctad-economic-development-africa-repo…