At COP27, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) joined development partners in signing a partnership agreement with Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of International Cooperation, to jointly support the country’s efforts to boost renewable energy and stimulate climate action through its country-led program: Nexus on Water, Food and Energy (NWFE).

The NWFE program consists of three pillars—food, water and energy—with a total investment about USD14.7 billion under Egypt’s National Climate Change Strategy. AIIB has committed to contribute to the implementation of the NWFE Energy Pillar, which is expected to mobilize at least USD10 billion in investments for the installation of 10GW of solar and wind energy by 2028. The initiative will also include the retirement of 5GW of inefficient fossil fuel capacity by 2025, leading to a substantial reduction in natural gas consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, estimated at around 17 million tons of CO2e per year.

“Egypt is a very important Member of AIIB, connecting Asia and Africa," AIIB Vice President for Investment Operations (Region 2), Konstantin Limitovskiy said. "We are very happy to reinforce our full support by joining the Egyptian Nexus of Food, Water and Energy initiative, which is a model led by the country in addressing climate imperatives. AIIB has already built a pipeline exceeding USD1 billion for Egypt, and the NWFE Partnership presents another opportunity for our enhanced collaboration.”

Egypt plans to enhance its Nationally Determined Contribution by committing to quadruple its installed renewables capacity share to 42 percent by 2030. It has also committed to expand the use of zero-emission vehicles, sustainable public transport, and other solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport.

Earlier last month, AIIB announced that its eighth Annual Meeting will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sept. 25-26, 2023.