The National Bank of Egypt will organize a consortium of lenders to syndicate a facility for the Egyptian transportation ministry's Shoubra-Banha highway project, which is expected to cost about EGP 2 billion, a senior government official told Zawya.
The road project linking the cities of Shoubra and Banha was originally offered as a public-private partnership, but has now been taken over by the transportation ministry, in order to expedite its completion. The ministry expects to build the 40-kilometer road in 18 months.
"We already had the feasibility study for the project to offer under the PPP scheme, but the ministry of transportation has rescinded that," Atter Hanoura, director of the PPP central unit at the Egyptian finance ministry, told Zawya.
Mahmoud Montasser, board member and head of credit at National Bank of Egypt, told Zawya the bank has signed an MOU with the General Authority for Roads, Bridges and Land Transport for the project, which will be in El-Kalubia governorate . The highway is expected to accommodate 125,000 vehicles a day.
The Shoubra-Banha highway was announced in 2009 as part of a transportation infrastructure initiative totaling EGP 30 billion. The plan includes the proposed Cairo-Alexandria highway, the Mediterranean Coastal Highway from Port Said to Marsa Matrouh, and the Kafr El Zayat-Alexandria highway project.
© Zawya 2012
