Government progresses WB-funded Upper Egypt program

CAIRO – 16 October 2017: The Egyptian government has made progress in the Upper Egypt development program, which is funded by the World Bank, Minister of Planning Hala El-Said announced Monday.

Said noted that they started conducting field visits to Upper Egypt to identify the needs of the citizens located there. “The first governorate was Fayoum, where we allocated LE 88 million ($4.9 million) from the program for drinking water and sanitation projects,” she said.

The minister explained that the value will be distributed across four projects; “we will continue next week these field visits in other governorates,” she added.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has ordered easing all hurdles facing this program, according to Said.

In June, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said that Egypt used $125 million earmarked from the World Bank for development projects in Upper Egypt.

The projects are part of a $500 million program, approved by the World Bank to achieve economic growth in Upper Egypt’s governorates, specifically in Qena and Sohag.

Aiming to support the private sector and create sustainable job opportunities, the program works to improve the business climate by developing infrastructure and existing industries especially in the food sector.