Diplomacy + Foreign Trade on 8 October 2020
Topping diplomatic coverage this morning: We now know how the EUR 1 bn loan agreement signed with the French Development Agency (AFD) last year will be spent, following a meeting between International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat and French Ambassador to Cairo Stéphane Romatet yesterday. The four-year agreement is set to last through 2023 and will channel funding to various infrastructure development, health, education, energy and water management projects. Some of the most notable allotments include:
- EUR 250 mn for the Abu Qir electric railway conversion project
- EUR 155 mn for water management and sanitation projects in Helwan
- EUR 150 to finance unspecified energy development projects
- EUR 150 mn to support the government’s universal health insurance scheme.