ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire, 29 May 2015 — The African Development Bank (AfDB) and Egypt, on May 29 in Abidjan, signed two loans and a letter of agreement. The two loans are worth US $140 million – US $90 million from the AfDB window and US $50 million loan from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF). The letter of agreement concerned a grant from the Middle Income Countries (MICs) Technical Assistance Fund of UA 1.2 million (approximately $1.7 million).
AfDB Vice-President in charge of Regional Integration, Infrastructure and Private Sector, Solomon Asamoah, signed for the Bank Group, while Egypt’s International Cooperation Minister, Naglaa A. El-Ehwany signed for her country, in the margins of the AfDB Annual Meetings.
The funds will help the Egyptian Government in its commitments to develop the country’s economy as a whole, particularly the aviation sector, and to transform Sharm el-Sheikh city. More importantly, the project will remove a bottleneck in the movement of travelers, including tourists into and out of the city. It will precisely support economic growth, and generate additional direct job opportunities, and increase of the country’s competitiveness as well.
“This project loan for infrastructure development is a landmark. It represents the signing of the first loan accord with Egypt in over four years. The project will mark the first Bank’s engagement with Egypt in the transport sector, and ultimately, support economic growth in the country’s towns and cities,” said AfDB Vice-President Asamoah.
“We are pleased the project also marks the first operation to be approved with a loan from the AGTF, which we hope will help bridge the infrastructure financial gap in Africa as a whole and Egypt in particular,” the Vice-President added.
“With this project, we want to convey a message to the world that Egypt is back”, said the Minister El-Ehwany.
http://www.eturbonews.com/59639/development-second-major-airport-egypt
