The Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, met with a delegation from the World Bank Group to discuss the joint social housing financing programme. The meeting also included other key World Bank Group representatives from the corresponding region.
The purpose of the meeting was to go over the findings of the World Bank Group mission, which took place from November 28th to December 9th 2022. This was primarily to look at the social housing financing programme. The $1 billion social housing financing programme, which launched in 2015, aims to provide suitable housing for low and middle-income people.
IMPACT OF THE SOCIAL HOUSING FINANCING PROGRAMME
Rania Al-Mashat emphasised the significance of the World Bank-funded social housing project, as a means to offer housing to low and middle-income people and increase access to programmes for low-income groups. This was especially about the Egyptian government's efforts under President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. The initiative is being funded by banks and businesses to create suitable housing and reduce slums.
As Egypt's first project of its kind, the social housing financing programme supplied 25,000 social housing units that met green building standards. The programme has also provided 3 million direct and indirect work opportunities, most within the construction and development sector.
Enhancing financial inclusion has also been prominent with the participation of 22 banks from the financial sector and 8 real estate finance companies.
WORLD BANK GROUP SEEKS TO MAINTAIN COLLABORATION AND EXPAND THIS PROGRAMME
The World Bank Group mission commended Egypt's successes in the social housing file, which is one of the world's largest programmes of its kind. In particular, it heaped praise on the country's successful efforts to provide sufficient housing for people with lower incomes.
The mission also underlined the World Bank Group's eagerness to maintain collaboration and expand this programme. It wants to carry on its support of the Egyptian government's ambition to continue broadening its scope of providing housing financing opportunities for the country’s citizens.
Lastly, according to Mai Abdel Hamid, the social housing finance programme has made significant progress to meet the increasing demand for housing units since its implementation in 2015. Houses were provided to over 470,000 low-income families in all of Egypt’s governorates up to June 2021. This has given a major boost to Egypt’s residential market. Equally, the programme's efforts have contributed to youth social inclusion. 75% of youth beneficiaries are under the age of 45, with 51% under the age of 30. Equally, as a means to assist gender equality, women also hold 42% of the Fund's leadership roles.
