The Egyptian Ministry of Planning and Economic Development is working with the World Bank Group to create an integrated roadmap for developing the country's mineral wealth. This initiative aims to support structural reforms and steps taken by Egypt to develop its mining sector. The World Bank will provide technical support and capacity-building programs to prepare the roadmap.
A meeting between Planning Minister Ahmed Rostom and World Bank Global Director for Metals and Minerals Namrata Thapar discussed ways to strengthen their strategic partnership in the mining sector. The mining sector is one of the five priority sectors in Egypt's economic plan. Egypt aims to boost its mining sector's contribution to the country's GDP from around one percent currently to six percent over the coming years.
Egypt is seeking to establish itself as a regional minerals trading hub, which will raise its mining exports to $10 billion by 2040, up from $1.6 billion in 2021. The roadmap will assess Egypt's geological potential and identify requirements for developing and utilizing its mineral resources. Egyptian Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi also met with Thapar to discuss the minerals roadmap.
The proposed cooperation will support mining-sector workers, start-ups, and value-added projects for phosphate, fertilizers, and other industries. These steps align with the government's plan to transform its mining sector from an extraction-focused activity to one that also includes infrastructure, energy, engineering, services, processing, and manufacturing.
The planning ministry is in talks with the World Bank and several international institutions to launch an infrastructure project financing guarantee mechanism. This mechanism aims to mobilize private funding for ongoing projects across the health, education, and infrastructure sectors between Egypt and the bank.
Rostom emphasized Egypt's commitment to developing its mining sector and bolstering efforts to implement measures and policies to empower the private sector. The ministry is working on adopting policies to enable the private sector to leverage Egypt's natural resources for inclusive economic development.
The state aims to maximize the value of its resources and create more job opportunities while supporting comprehensive and sustainable economic development. Egypt seeks higher economic returns from mineral resources through deeper integration and cooperation among governments, private companies, financial institutions, and firms across the mining value chain.
Key points
- Egypt aims to increase its mining exports to $10 billion by 2040.
- The country seeks to boost its mining sector's contribution to GDP to six percent.
- The roadmap will assess Egypt's geological potential and identify requirements for developing its mineral resources.
