Egyptian farmers will now acquire solar irrigation pumps easily after International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Agricultural bank of Egypt (ABE) formed a partnership to help the farmers access financing to purchase the solar irrigation systems.
The partnership will help promote Egyptian farmers switch to Solar Irrigation Systems reducing their reliance on diesel-powered generators and boosting their productivity.
According to IFC, using solar power for water pumping could potentially save farmers an estimated US $875 million annually in diesel fuel costs, helping reduce greenhouse gas.
ABE, one of the country’s largest banks in Egypt, will build capacity and design new financial products to enable Egyptian farmers—most of whom lack direct access to grid electricity—to purchase and install solar irrigation pumps.
ABE Deputy Chairman – Sami Abdel Sadek, said, “Expanding the use of solar energy technology among farmers is part of our strategy to support agricultural and rural development in Egypt. It will also contribute to the country’s 2030 strategy to encourage agricultural investments and rationalize the use of resources, including energy, in the sector.”
READ: Ugandan farmers urged to use solar water pumps in agriculture
Walid Labadi, IFC Country Manager for Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, added that the partnership with ABE will help provide clean energy to farmers at an affordable cost, while helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Supporting the development of renewable energy and expanding access to finance are priorities for IFC in Egypt.
The partnership is part of IFC’s broader advisory work to strengthen Egypt’s clean technology sector and support entrepreneurship in the country.
Under the Cleantech Entrepreneurship and Market Development Project, IFC is helping select financial institutions build their capacity to offer financing facilities for off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems in the agribusiness sector. The project is being implemented in partnership with the governments of Denmark, South Korea, and the Netherlands.
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets while ABE’s main objective is to help in the develope Egypt’s agricultural sector.
