Dedicated to projects focused on improving Egypt’s transport infrastructure and transformation strategy for sustainable transport
Development financing agreement worth €1.128 billion for transport sector signed by Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, and Flavia Palanza, Director Operations of Neighboring Countries at the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Part of a financing package worth €1.9 billion approved by EIB in July, it includes €800 million focused on strengthening the resilience of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the pandemic.
Dedicated to projects focused on improving Egypt’s transport infrastructure and transformation strategy for sustainable transport. This includes converting the Abu Qir train line into a metro line with a length of 22 km, rehabilitating the Al-Raml tram line with a length of 13 km, and rehabilitating the Cairo Metro Line 2 with a length of 23 km.
Al-Mashat highlighted the importance of the strategic development cooperation partnership between Egypt and the EIB. Currently, investments worth €10.6 billion help integrate social, economic, and environmental aspects of development, and align with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The agreement aims to target four of the UN development goals; Sustainable Cities and Communities (Goal 11), Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8), Climate Action (Goal 13), and Partnerships for the Goals (Goal 17).
The projects will also be supported through the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative and the EU Neighbourhood Investment Programme (EU NIP), which provide grants for technical assistance and advisory support.
“Understanding the value of transport infrastructure is at the heart of informed policy-making,” Minister Al-Mashat said, “Benefiting more than half a million passengers a day, we are not only reshaping Egypt’s economic geography but also meeting social and environmental targets to drive sustainable growth.”
She also added that Egypt values their partnership with the EIB, stating it has been instrumental in pushing the boundaries of ESG standards that encourage international cooperation.
Palanza stated, “As the European Union’s (EU) Climate Bank, we give high priority to clean urban transport projects such as trams and metros, and as part of this we signed the €1.128 billion government agreement supporting this important goal for our joint cooperation.”
“This large-size financing responds to the ambitious objectives of the Egyptian government to improve people’s life by building sustainable transport infrastructure, and reducing CO2 emissions,” she added, “The first €600m tranche of the EIB support has been signed for, and we expect to sign the second tranche early next year. We are looking forward implementing these key investment projects with our Egyptian partners and the other IFIs.”
According to the Ministry of International Cooperation’s annual report, the ministry secured development financing agreements worth $9.8 billion this year, with $6.7 billion secured for financing sovereign projects, and $3.1 billion for the private sector.
This year, the Ministry secured $1.794bn in development financing to support sustainable transportation with development partners that include the EIB, AFD, EBRD, China, and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED).
