Egypt is the largest economy in North Africa, facing a range of economic, environmental and social challenges. In terms of the environmental dimension, these span from Egypt's high vulnerability to the impacts of climate change to the increasing depletion of natural resources. To address these challenges, Egypt has developed several green economy policies and strategies.
Thus, while Egypt has already taken the first steps towards developing a green economy and many mega projects, for example in the field of renewable energy, are already being implemented or planned, it will be equally important to identify the potential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing resource efficiency along the different value chains. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for up to 40 per cent of national GDP, have a particularly important role to play in this transformation process. Even if resource consumption seems relatively low in individual cases, SMEs as a group are responsible for a significant part of the environmental impact. In addition to environmental benefits, a green economy also offers economic benefits. These can include cost savings, but also new growth and employment opportunities.
In order to support SMEs in Egypt to take advantage of these opportunities of greening the economy, more detailed analyses along the individual value chains are needed. Against this background, the aim of the study is to exemplarily analyse selected supply chains in order to identify green development opportunities for the private sector, especially for SMEs.