The United States is planning to increase backing to Egypt to help it change to solar power energy and move away from fossil fuels, US special representative for climate John Kerry said in Cairo on Wednesday.

Egypt is “blessed to be the number one country in the world” when it comes to making use of solar energy, Kerry told reporters following meetings with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry.

Egypt remains dependent on fossil fuels for its energy needs, and a huge cloud of air pollution often floats over its capital of Cairo, which is home to some 20 million people.

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Whereas President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s government is taking proper steps toward renewables.

El-Sisi has said that the government’s objectives to take greater advantage of the country’s optimum solar and wind conditions for energy gathering.

Officials have stated that they plan to get 20 percent of the country’s energy requirements met by renewables before 2022, and 43 percent by 2035.

Switching to renewable energy could help Egypt create jobs as well, said Kerry.

On the contrary, roughly a third of Egyptian lives under the poverty line, according to a government study from 2019.

Furthermore, the effects of the deadly coronavirus pandemic have also hit hard the tourism-dependent nation.