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At the end of a meeting held in Paris on Tuesday 30 April, the Egyptian Ministry of Transport and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) expressed their joint desire to strengthen a strategic partnership in the field of sustainable transport in Egypt.
As part of his official visit to France, the Minister of Transport of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Kamel al-Wazeer, met Mr. Rémy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer of AFD, to deepen their cooperation in Egypt's transport sector.
A strategic and priority sector, a symbol of Franco-Egyptian cooperation
Since 2015, Egypt has been engaged in a vast transport and mobility modernization program with the active support of AFD and its European partners. With a population of 105 million, decongesting the major cities of Cairo and Alexandria, offering quality public transport, but also positioning Egypt as a regional logistics hub with quality port and rail infrastructure, has become a strategic priority.
French cooperation, via the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), has been supporting this strategic sector for almost 20 years in cooperation with the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) on urban transport projects in Cairo (metro lines 1 and 3) and Alexandria (Aboukir metro and Raml tramway). AFD is also financing rail projects with its partner, Egyptian Railways (ENR). Since then, AFD's financing commitments in Egypt's transport sector have reached 900 million euros, representing around 25% of the portfolio invested by AFD in the country.
These projects have a tangible impact on Egyptians: for example, metro line 3, the capital's only east-west route, already handles more than 8 million passengers a month, a figure that is set to rise once the last section, linking Cairo University in particular, opens in 2024. This project, financed by AFD with its European partners, showcases the expertise of French companies in terms of engineering, construction and operation and has created 12 000 jobs.
Renewed cooperation in support of sustainable transport in Egypt and the government's priorities
The meeting between Minister Kamel al-Wazeer and Mr. Rémy Rioux provided an opportunity to hail to the results of this fruitful cooperation, as evidenced by the signing of an intergovernmental agreement in 2021. Both parties expressed their shared interest in AFD financing the Ministry's new priorities, both in Cairo and Alexandria.
Rémy Rioux said: “We are proud of our 20 years of cooperation with Egypt in developing clean, accessible and inclusive urban transport. As Egypt hosts the World Urban Forum in November 2024, we will continue to support the government's ambitious policy to promote sustainable mobility in Cairo, Alexandria and the Delta region, in particular through the extension or development of new tram, metro and rail lines.”
On his side, Mr. Kamel al-Wazeer added: "Cooperation between Egypt and France in the field of transport is of vital importance to our country. We are delighted with AFD's continued support and our shared desire to extend our cooperation in terms of sustainable development and urban mobility."
Press contact:
- AFD : desaintmartinp@afd.fr ; greissn@afd.fr
- Ambassade d’Egypte en France : mahmoud.reda@mfa.gov.eg