Egypt signed on Sunday a 229-million-euro deal with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to improve sanitation and community infrastructure in the Nile Delta, the EIB announced in a press statement.
Signed on the sidelines of the Africa 2018 economic forum in Sharm El-Sheikh in the presence of PM Mostafa Mabdouly, the initial agreement on the deal was reached in October during a visit by Egypt s Investment Minister Sahar Nasr to Luxemburg.
The Egyptian cabinet officially approved the deal in November.
"The EIB continues to support a sustainable, modern economy in Egypt and to reinforce its economic resilience," said EIB president Werner Hoyer, adding that the total EIB financing agreements with Egypt since 2012 have reached 5 billion euros.
The first agreement signed is a €214 million loan to the Kitchener Drain de-pollution project, the 69-km-long agricultural drainage canal spanning across the governorates of Kafr El-Sheikh, Gharbiya and Daqahliya in the Nile Delta region.
Approximately 6 million people are expected to benefit from improved and new sanitation and solid waste services as a result of the investments, the EIB said.
The EIB also said that the deal is a good example of multilateral cooperation as it is part of an integrated de-pollution project comprising a number of investments financed by the EIB, the European Union s Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in wastewater and sanitation, solid waste and drain rehabilitation – a first of its kind in Egypt.
The EIB also signed a €15 million grant agreement on Sunday with Egypt s Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA). The grant is funded by the European Union under the NIF.
The new signings bring EIB s total finance agreements in Egypt in 2018 to 800 million euros for transport, energy, small and medium enterprises, microfinance, water and wastewater sectors.
