The French-Egyptian cooperation in the field of wholesale markets

Sally Mazroau

on the occasion of the State visit to Cairo of HE the President of the French Republic, Mr Emmanuel Macron, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Egypt and France. It laid the foundation for a fruitful cooperation partnership among the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade (MoSIT), the Ministry of International Cooperation (MoIC), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the Semmaris, the French company in charge of Parisian wholesale market, Rungis. This cooperation includes a technical assistance program, which just ended, and a ceremony was organized at the French Embassy’s Residence de France in Cairo on October, 3rd 2021, which meant to celebrate the relevance of France-Egypt bilateral cooperation around wholesale trade of agricultural and food products for sustainable economic and territorial development of Egypt. Special guests of the successful ceremony were HE Dr Ali ElMoselhy, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, Dr Ibrahim Ashmawy, Vice-Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, Dr Mohamed Gawad Allam, Minister Plenipotentiary Commercial, Head of Sector, from the Ministry of International Cooperation, Dr Fabio Grazi, Country Director of AFD Egypt Office, Mr Benoit Juster, Executive Director of Semmaris. This celebration was the occasion to take stock of the framing technical assistance funded by AFD (under FEXTE, the delegated funds of the French Treasury) and implemented by SEMMARIS to MoSIT’s benefit and to announce the next phase of this bold and successful partnership, namely the realization of the first wholesale market project in Egypt. Following the realization of the next pilot operation also with the financial support of AFD, a comprehensive network of agrifood wholesale markets will emerge across the country, whose spatial distribution and infrastructural endowment will include: optimized commercial and logistical areas; proximity of food and agricultural production centers; efficient food supply chain and logistics; fast connection between wholesale and central markets.

Establishing an efficient wholesale market network in Egypt represents simultaneously: (i) an economic development priority, for it establishes a direct link between agricultural production, food safety and supply, which will ultimately result in reducing losses over the whole value chain; and (ii) an imperative of Egypt’s national sustainable development goals agenda as it brings together aspects related to food security, territorial development, and job creation in a context of domestic rapid economic, population and urbanization rate growth.

 

During this ceremony which gathered the main stakeholders of the agrifood trade sector, HE. Dr Ali ElMoselhy stressed the importance of developing a modern “agrifood logistical hub” in Egypt, in line with Egypt’s strategy for food security and safety. He also indicated that Egypt had secured around EUR 100 million (equivalent to USD 115.8 million) in financing from France, through Agence Française de Développement, for the realization of a pioneer wholesale market project on Egypt’s North coast. HE the Minister just came back from a visit to Paris last week, which allowed him to see with his own eyes the many positive aspects of efficient and modern wholesale market infrastructure, as the one of Rungis.

 

On behalf of HE. Dr Rania A. Al-Mashat, Dr Mohamed Gawad Allam, Minister Plenipotentiary Commercial, Head of Sector at the Ministry of International Cooperation, confirmed the strategic importance of the agricultural sector for the country, which led the MOIC to organize Multistakeholders platforms covering the agrifood value chains. Accordingly, MOIC facilitated the signature of the Intergovernmental Agreement between France and Egypt on June 2021, which included this flagship project of pilot wholesale market in Alexandria.

 

Dr Fabio Grazi, Country Director at AFD stressed the developmental and economic benefits of this partnership in the spirit of the Paris agreement and the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development: “Following directly the outcome and recommendations of technical assistance program implemented by SEMMARIS, AFD has proudly and enthusiastically accepted the request for support by the Government of Egypt, though its Ministry of International Cooperation, to realize the first wholesale market project in Egypt (Alexandria). It is a flagship operation that allows to take the bilateral partnership between France and Egypt on economic development to new heights. For this reason it was included in the Intergovernmental framework Agreement 2021-2025 signed in June 2021 by HE the Minister of International Cooperation, Dr Rania A. Al-Mashat, HE the Minister of Finance and Economic Recovery, Mr Bruno Le Maire and AFD CEO, Mr Rémy Rioux.

Thanks to this next operation, France, through Agence Française de Développement, will not only be supporting sustainable food value chain development for reducing food losses and waste in the country. It will also contribute to promoting sustainable economic and territorial development by (i) enhancing Egypt’s logistical and transportation systems, which will result in increased productivity, efficient resource use and reduced environmental impact, and (ii) reinforcing the agri-food infrastructure and services, which will translate into increased connectivity and inclusiveness and job opportunities.

” The next step of the AFD-MoSIT cooperation for the implementation of the wholesale market in Alexandria is the mobilization of an expert to carry out the feasibility study to be recruited in the coming month.

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD Group) is the operator of France’s bilateral development finance mechanism. It implements France’s policy on economic development and international solidarity. It finances, supports and accelerates transitions towards a socially-inclusive and climate-resilient world.

With its partners, AFD Group is building shared solutions with and for the people of the Global South. Our teams are active in more than 4,000 projects in the field–in overseas France, in some 115 countries and in crisis areas, working to promote the “common goods” that are climate, biodiversity, peace, gender equality, that education and health. It is AFD’s way of contributing to the commitment that France and the French people have made to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Towards a world in common.