Egypt's NBE secures $200mln loan to support infrastructure projects

Egypt - The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the OPEC Fund have lent $200 million to the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) to support infrastructure projects in Egypt, according to a statement by AIIB.

The financing deal includes a $150 million loan from AIIB and another $50 million from the OPEC Fund.

As part of the deal, NBE will deploy the funds to support hard and soft infrastructure sub-projects in Egypt.

The facility will be used to on-lend to the private sector in several priority industries, including education, energy, health and transportation, OPEC said. The state-owned bank will also channel finance to SMEs

“The OPEC Fund’s loan will be used for on-lending to the private sector in priority industries that include education, energy (particularly renewables), health and transportation. In addition, NBE will on-lend to small and medium-sized enterprises,” the statement said.

“Egypt significant infrastructure needs can be met by increasing investments in both public and private sectors, and banks such as NBE will play a critical role in deploying fund where it is most needed,” Tareq AlNassar, OPEC Fund’s assistant director general for private sector and trade finance operations, commented on the deal.

It is worth noting that the OPEC Fund has supported development projects in Egypt since it was established in 1976. Since then, more than $1.3 billion has been committed across all the OPEC Fund’s financing windows for projects in various economic sectors.

NBE is Egypt’s oldest commercial bank that provides corporate and investment banking services. It caters to SMEs and capital markets, as well as funds key economic sectors, including energy, electricity, gas, telecommunications, air transport and tourism.