France is lending us EUR 777 mn for the Metro Line 1 revamp: We yesterday signed a loan agreement with the French government for EUR 776.9 mn to fund the 55 new trains for Cairo Metro Line 1 being supplied by French manufacturer Alstom, according to a cabinet statement.

The terms: The 40-year development loan includes a 15-year grace period, with the funds to be paid back at a 0.0092% interest rate, the statement read. The state will pay nearly EGP 1.2 bn (EUR 58.8 mn) for the trains upfront.

The trains: Some 13% of the components used to build the trains will be sourced from Egypt via the Arab Organization for Industrialization’s SEMAF railway factory, the statement read. Alstom will also carry out maintenance work and supply spare parts for eight years as part of the contract, which was approved by ministers late last year. The trains are part of a larger facelift planned for Cairo’s oldest underground line, which has been backed with hundreds of mns of EUR from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other European lenders.

AND- We’re doing more business with Alstom. The National Authority for Tunnels signed an MoU with an Alstom-led French consortium to work on systems, tracks, and the manufacture and supply of “mobile units” for the new Metro Line 6, according to a separate statement. The master contract for the EGP 62.4 bn line, which will run from Al Khusus city to Tora El-Balad, was awarded to US infrastructure giant Bechtel in 2020. Alstom is also currently working on the manufacture of monorail trains for Egypt’s first monorail project.

REMINDER- France is already giving Egypt EUR 2 bn in credit facilities for the sixth metro line.