Egypt, AFESD sign $85M deal to fund photovoltaic power station in Aswan

CAIRO - 19 April 2017: The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) will provide Egypt with KWD 26 million ($85 million) to contribute in the funding of establishing a photovoltaic power station with a capacity of 50 megawatts in the town of Kom Ombo in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Aswan, the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation said in a Wednesday statement.

The agreement was signed between Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Sahar Nasr, and the Director General of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), Youssef Al-Hamad, on the the sidelines of Nasr’s participation in the annual joint meetings of Arab Financial Institutions, held in Morocco.

The project aims to meet the increasing needs of electric power in the Egyptian market and to expand the projects of new and renewable energy rather than those depending on traditional resources like natural gas, coal and diesel, Nasr said.

This will help Egypt reach the highest international standards of environmental safety and sustainability, the minister added.

The AFESD is further contributing to fund 59 projects with about $5.25 billion.

Meanwhile, Nasr held talks with Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) Abdulwahab al-Bader, where they discussed promoting cooperation between Cairo and the KFAED, in light of the $3 billion funding deals inked between the two sides to finance 42 development projects in various fields in Egypt.