Nevine Gamea — CEO of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) — said that the agency is keen on implementing ambitious programmes in line with the national strategy sponsored by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to shift towards a green economy.
With climate changes becoming more prominent as the days go on, Egypt has committed itself to increasing the percentage of new and renewable energies in the total energy mix to reach 42% by 2035.
Gamea explained on the side-lines of the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) that is being held in Sharm El-Sheikh that among some of the programmes it is implementing to tackle climate change is the presidential initiative to convert cars to run on natural gas. Through this programme, the agency provides flexible financing mechanisms for owners of private cars, taxis, and microbuses.
She pointed out that the Agency allocated has allocated EGP 1.2bn to convert 150,000 taxi, microbuses, and passenger cars within three years. Moreover, EGP 542m were pumped during the past eight years to convert over 77,000 cars to run on natural gas.
Gamea explained that the use of natural gas instead of traditional fuel leads to a significant reduction in air pollutant emissions, which helps preserve the environment, enhances the chances of sustainability for those projects, and contributes to preserving job opportunities for workers in the transportation sector, and helping taxi drivers save up to 60% of spending.
She added that the agency implements a variety of projects related to supporting bioenergy and biogas production by financing the establishment of biogas production units. Beneficiaries are granted financial support from the Bioenergy Corporation within the limits of a maximum of 40% of the total cost of executed biogas units.
She explained that biogas projects allow obtaining a new and clean source of energy with many uses, as well as good organic fertiliser that does not have a harmful effect on agricultural soils.
Gamea added that the status of coal mine projects is also being legalised to operate under the official sector and help owners work in an environmentally friendly manner through the use of cam units approved by the Ministry of Environment, in addition to expanding financing for projects of power plants.