Egypt signs agreements worth EUR 400 mn with EIB: Egypt signed a number of agreements with the European Investment Bank (EIB) yesterday that will see the lender contribute close to EUR 400 mn to wastewater and sanitation projects, according to a statement from the Investment and International Cooperation Ministry. Minister Sahar Nasr signed a EUR 4.7 mn funding agreement with EIB’s Vice President Dario Scannapieco for sanitation projects in Kafr El Sheikh, as well as three other MoUs that will see the bank contribute EUR 209 mn to the Kafr El Sheikh Kitchener drainage project, EUR 172 mn to a water treatment project in Fayoum, and a EUR 400k technical grant to the Alexandria Water Company. Nasr said that in addition to a total EUR 77 mn from EIB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Commission have also each contributed EUR 55 mn and EUR 15 mn, respectively, to water projects in Kafr El Sheikh.

EIB pledges EUR 600 mn to support SMEs in MENA: The agreements were inked during EIB’s MED Conference in Cairo, where Scannapieco announced the bank recently agreed to make EUR 600 mn in funding available for SME support in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Morocco. According to Nasr, the EIB has committed a total EUR 8.2 bn to Egypt projects and that the bank’s portfolio in the country currently stands at USD 1.7 bn.