AfDB to finance water, energy and SME projects in Egypt
3 avril 2014
MSME News
African Development Bank (AfDB) has said it will finance projects in the water, irrigation, energy and small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) sectors in Egypt. The bank also expressed its readiness to continue to support Egyptian government by expanding its lending programme in 2015.
In a statement issued by the bank on Apr 1, it said some of the projects it would be financing include the modernisation of farm level irrigation, Phase III of the country´s national drainage project, solar and wind power projects and SME cluster development initiative for the agribusiness sector.
"Some notable projects in the pipeline include the rehabilitation of Zefta barrage, farm level irrigation modernisation, national drainage project Phase III, 200 MW Gulf of Suez wind power, Kom Ombo solar power, rehabilitation of conventional power plants and SME cluster development programme for the agribusiness sector," AfDB said.
It also announced that the increase in grants will contribute to the critical reform in the field of governance, including the enhancement of the delivery of justice and its transparency, improvement in rule-making and the assistance to parliamentarian support staff in achieving social inclusion.
It said: "In 2014, the bank is working on providing US$75m to build the transmission line from the bank-financed Suez thermal power project as well as a Risk Participation Agreement (RPA) between AFDB and Commercial International Bank (CIB) to the tune of $50m to support the latter's export trade confirmation business in Egypt."
Last week, the interim Egyptian government signed several agreements with international institutions to help finance projects in the energy sectors as well as small and micro businesses.
The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) signed two agreements amounting to US$412m to help upgrade the power station in Assiut, contribute to the Egyptian-Saudi electricity linkage project and finance small and micro businesses.
The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation signed last Monday an EUR80m (US$110m) agreement with the French Agency for Development, offering long-term credit to small and micro Egyptian businesses.
In Dec, AFDB signed a US$2m grant agreement with the Ministry of International Cooperation to finance the Green Growth Industrial Waste Management and SME entrepreneurship initiatives. The grant came from the Middle East and North Africa Transition Fund, under the umbrella of support provided by the Deauville Partnership to Egypt.
AfDB said it will not relent in its efforts aimed at providing assistance to the embattled government of Egypt by offering access to loans and grants.