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Sunday, 15 July 2018

Foreign institutions have pledged nearly USD 3bn in fresh(ish) financing

EXCLUSIVE- Maait will get a bit of help from foreign institutions that have pledged nearly USD 3bn in fresh(ish) financing:

USD 1.53 bn from the World Bank: Maait told us this weekend that the World Bank agreed last week to extend some USD 1.53 bn in new loans to Egypt during meetings in Cairo last week. The funding includes USD 500 mn for education, USD 530 mn for healthcare programs, and another USD 500 mn for Sinai. More could follow: Investment and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr is in New York today for meetings with World Bank officials, according to a ministry statement. The minister is looking to get the bank to pledge some USD 1 bn to support Egypt’s development offers in Sinai, as well as a separate USD 500 mn package for the second phase of the government’s social housing project. A senior government official had told us last week that the Madbouly government is looking to borrow a total of USD 2 bn from the bank.

USD 1.2 bn from the Chinese: Egypt’s share of a USD 20 bn regional development aid package announced by Chinese President Xi Jingping at the China-Arab Cooperation Forum will be USD 1.2 bn, a senior government source told us. The funding will go towards Alamein-Ain Sokhna electric rail link. This comes as the Transportation Ministry confirmed to Al Shorouk that it is in talks with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), and French Development Agency (AFD) to secure financing for the planned EGP 32 bn overhaul of the Cairo Metro Line 1. The ministry had been expected to sign in May a EUR 600 mn loan agreement with the lenders for infrastructure development works for Line 1.

That’s in addition to USD 3(ish) bn already earmarked by Afreximbank: The African Bank for Export and Import (Afreximbank) has allocated USD 3 bn in new funding for Egyptian companies “in the coming period,” bank president Benedict Oramah told Al Mal on Thursday. Afreximbank deputy head Ame Kamel told Ahram Online on Saturday that the bank has earmarked USD 2.3 bn for Egypt this year, of USD 1.7 bn has already been disbursed.

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