NDB’s first int’l seminar in Egypt: Facts and expectations
The seminar represents an opportunity to familiarize with the bank's operations and explore ways to assist the government and private sector in integrating into development operations. Discussions will focus on the potential for future cooperation between current and new BRICS members to maximize Egypt's benefits from joining the BRICS bloc and the New Development Bank.
Partnership benefits for Egypt:
• The NDB enhances integration within the multilateral development bank system and provides more financing opportunities for developing and emerging economies.
• The NDB focuses on promoting financing for infrastructure projects and sustainable development in BRICS countries and other emerging and developing economies.
• Organizing the first seminar of the NDB in Egypt presents an opportunity to introduce its operations and explore avenues for cooperation with the government and private sector.
• The NDB aims to allocate 40 percent of its financing to climate-related projects.
• The NDB places significant importance on technology transfer efforts, knowledge sharing, and addressing food security, energy, and infrastructure challenges in its member countries.
The inaugural seminar of the NDB marks the first of its kind outside the BRICS founding countries, fostering partnership with Egypt in the realm of multilateral development banks and the international financial system.
Egypt has officially become a member at the bank in March 2023.
NDB's role in BRICs:
The NDB was established in 2014 with an initial authorized capital of $100 billion divided into one million shares. It is a bank comparable to the World Bank, focusing on financing infrastructure and sustainable development projects, having financed 96 projects equivalent to around $33 billion.
• The bank aims to establish an international cash and banking system that does not depend on major economic powers to finance infrastructure projects and sustainable development projects in BRICS countries and other emerging economies and developing countries.
• It strengthens the efforts of multilateral financial institutions and regional entities aiming to enhance global growth and development, supporting public or private projects through loans, guarantees, and capital participation, and other financial instruments.
• The bank is one of the tools for developing economic cooperation among its contributing countries, paying special attention to areas such as facilitating technology transfer, promoting innovation, and addressing food security and energy problems, sustainable infrastructure development, and supporting development.
The authorized capital of the New Development Bank is $100 billion, and it is open to subscription by all members of the United Nations. The shares of the bank's capital are distributed equally among the five founding countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, with each country contributing 18.98%.
Egypt's accession to the BRICS bloc enhances the opportunities for benefiting from areas that fall within the multifaceted activities of the NDB affiliated with BRICS. In its preamble, it supports sustainable development and enhances regional cooperation and integration through investment in infrastructure sectors primarily, such as energy, transportation, water, and communications.
The bank provides a flexible financing tool called the "Multi-Tranche Facility for Project Financing," designed for large-scale infrastructure projects to be implemented in stages over a maximum period of 10 years. The bank's board of directors approves the entire project, and a loan agreement is concluded for each tranche, without requiring new approvals from the bank's board of directors.
The NDB supports public and private projects through loans, guarantees, and capital participation, in addition to providing technical assistance for supported projects, including priority projects for the Egyptian economy in sectors such as transportation, water and sanitation, clean energy, digital infrastructure, and urban development.
On Monday, the Ministry of International Cooperation organised a roundtable with the Vice President of the NDB and the heads of the economic-focused think tanks in Egypt in order to build a dialogue channel between the bank and the private sector in the country going forward.