08 January 2008
KUWAIT: Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) is to sign a $100 million agreement for financing Abu Qir new power plant in Egypt by next month. KFAED also aims to achieve KD 200 million investments by the end of its fiscal year in March, said the fund's director general yesterday. "We are going to a sign a project in Egypt hopefully in February. The project is for $100 million... it is the second tier of the project for (financing) a power plant in Abu Qir," KFAED Director General Abdul Wahab Al-Bader told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of 62nd meeting of the Coordination Group of Arab National and Regional Development Institutions. He didn't give further details on the terms of the funding.
Total amount of the project's two stages is $200 million. KFAED is to sign the agreement with the government-owned Egyptian Electricity Holding Company to finance the new Abu Qir 1,300-megawatt power generation plant, reported Annahar newspaper in September. Total project cost is $930, in which the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development contributes with $200 million. Other financers include the African Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank. The project is set to start operating by mid 2011.
The Fund targets to achieve a total investment of KD 200 million by March31, the end of its fiscal year, from the reimbursed loans and its returns. "As our current five year mandate, we are able to work up to KD 200 million per year - this is the loan part. This year we are going, hopefully, to reach that number by end of March," said Al-Bader yesterday.
There is a number of projects the Fund is currently looking into in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia," he added. Other projects include funding a water plant in Mauritania and building a dam and power generating station in Sudan. On Lebanon, Al-Bader said the Fund has two stages of operations in addition to supervising the $300 million grant by the Kuwait government.
The aim of yesterday's coordination group meeting was "to coordinate operations between the Arab regional funds who meet semi-annually". "The main purpose of (the meeting) really is to coordinate out operations and work. We are hoping to continue our previous (projects) and harmonize our different work in relation to contracts and procedures... that will facilitate dealing with the recipient countries," added Al-Bader. The group's first meeting was held in 1975.
To date, total projects financed by the coordination group is more than 6,700 joint-venture projects with total value of $80 billion, from which Kuwait Fund's lent $14 billion," said Al-Badr. The group aims to achieve cooperation among the Arab institutions to support development and projects in the developing countries.
With a KD 2,000 million capital, the Kuwait Fund was established in 1961 to provide financial and technical assistance to developing countries through offering loans and grants. In addition to the Kuwait Fund, the coordination group include: the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organization (AGFUND), the Islamic Development Bank, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Saudi Fund for Development
KUWAIT: Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) is to sign a $100 million agreement for financing Abu Qir new power plant in Egypt by next month. KFAED also aims to achieve KD 200 million investments by the end of its fiscal year in March, said the fund's director general yesterday. "We are going to a sign a project in Egypt hopefully in February. The project is for $100 million... it is the second tier of the project for (financing) a power plant in Abu Qir," KFAED Director General Abdul Wahab Al-Bader told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of 62nd meeting of the Coordination Group of Arab National and Regional Development Institutions. He didn't give further details on the terms of the funding.
Total amount of the project's two stages is $200 million. KFAED is to sign the agreement with the government-owned Egyptian Electricity Holding Company to finance the new Abu Qir 1,300-megawatt power generation plant, reported Annahar newspaper in September. Total project cost is $930, in which the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development contributes with $200 million. Other financers include the African Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank. The project is set to start operating by mid 2011.
The Fund targets to achieve a total investment of KD 200 million by March31, the end of its fiscal year, from the reimbursed loans and its returns. "As our current five year mandate, we are able to work up to KD 200 million per year - this is the loan part. This year we are going, hopefully, to reach that number by end of March," said Al-Bader yesterday.
There is a number of projects the Fund is currently looking into in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia," he added. Other projects include funding a water plant in Mauritania and building a dam and power generating station in Sudan. On Lebanon, Al-Bader said the Fund has two stages of operations in addition to supervising the $300 million grant by the Kuwait government.
The aim of yesterday's coordination group meeting was "to coordinate operations between the Arab regional funds who meet semi-annually". "The main purpose of (the meeting) really is to coordinate out operations and work. We are hoping to continue our previous (projects) and harmonize our different work in relation to contracts and procedures... that will facilitate dealing with the recipient countries," added Al-Bader. The group's first meeting was held in 1975.
To date, total projects financed by the coordination group is more than 6,700 joint-venture projects with total value of $80 billion, from which Kuwait Fund's lent $14 billion," said Al-Badr. The group aims to achieve cooperation among the Arab institutions to support development and projects in the developing countries.
With a KD 2,000 million capital, the Kuwait Fund was established in 1961 to provide financial and technical assistance to developing countries through offering loans and grants. In addition to the Kuwait Fund, the coordination group include: the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organization (AGFUND), the Islamic Development Bank, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Saudi Fund for Development
By Rania El Gamal
© Kuwait Times 2008
