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Tuesday, 6 October 2020

JPMorgan disburses first loan tranche for monorail project

DEBT WATCH- Egypt just got the first USD 332 mn tranche of a loan from JPMorgan to finance the construction of two monorail lines, one linking the new administrative capital to Cairo Stadium Station and the other linking Gameat El Dewal Station to Sixth of October, Al Mal reports, citing sources it says are close to the matter. The sources said the payment was the first installment of a larger lending agreement, but didn’t disclose the total value of the loan. JPMorgan is leading a syndicate of international lenders that is providing a USD 2.5 bn loan with support from UK Export Finance for the monorail projects, construction consortium member Orascom Construction said in August (pdf). The two lines are expected to cost more than USD 4.6 bn, USD 3 bn of which will be spent on construction and USD 1.67 bn on operating and maintaining the lines for a 30-year period.

About the project: The monorails will extend a 54-km line (expected to be completed in 2022) between the new capital and Nasr City, and another 42-km line (scheduled for completion in 2023) from Sixth of October City to Giza. A consortium led by Bombardier, Orascom Construction, and Arab Contractors signed a 30-year contract for the construction and maintenance of the lines last year. Orascom and Bombardier broke ground on the new capital-Nasr City line in May this year. UK Export Finance

Trains to start arriving next year: Egypt will begin importing locomotives from July 2021 for the new capital-Nasr City line, Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir said on Saturday. Bombardier, Orascom and Arab Contractors have completed 80% of the design work on the line’s 22 stations, he added.

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