The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a formal loan request from the Egyptian government for Euros 250 million to partially fund a project to convert Alexandria’s Abu-Qir railway into an underground metro, said Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat.
The existing railway connects Downtown Alexandria with Abu-Qir, north-east of the city.
The EBRD loan will finance infrastructure works and relevant rail system upgrades, including signalling, telecommunications, and centralised control systems, Ms Mashat said.
The new fund backs the State policy to upgrade the infrastructure of the transport sector, enhance sustainability and transformation to green economy, the Minister said, noting that Cairo has clear plans for various development projects such as transport, renewable energy and water. The country has declared 2050 a national strategy for climate change launched during the Glasgow summit earlier this month.
The loan is part of an investment package estimated at 1.6 billion Euros, expected to be co-financed by the European Investment Bank, the French Development Agency, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Ms Mashat explained.
The project will be implemented by the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), a State-owned executive agency affiliated to the Ministry of Transport.
The Abu-Qir metro will help Egypt promote its green transition in transport through shifting an individually operated railway into a sustainable, accessible, and inclusive public transport means.
The operation of the new metro will be assigned through a long-term contract to an experienced metro operator following its completion, which will support the private sector involvement in urban transport service provision.
Since starting operation in Egypt in 2012, EBRD has invested some 7.7 billion Euros in 134 projects, 75 per cent of which belong to the private sector. In 2020, Egypt figured on top of the EBRD operation list among countries of south and east of the Mediterranean; it took up 47 per cent of the EBRD investments in the region. In 2018 and 2019 too, Egypt took the lion’s share of EBRD investments.
Watani International
16 November 2021