Egyptian gov. cuts $1.25B deal with Africa Finance to fund projects in Ain Sukhna

CAIRO – 9 September 2018: Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli attended Sunday the signing ceremony of a financing contract between Carbon Holding Company and African Finance Corporation (AFC), which financed developmental projects in Africa, to finance the $1.25 billion petrochemical complex in Ain Sukhna.

With a total investments of $11 billion, the petrochemical complex is the largest in the MENA region.

The signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the 2018 Africa forum, taking place in Sharm el-Shiekh, in the presence of Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation and Mehab Mameish, the Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, and the President of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone).

During the ceremony, Nasr stressed the government's keenness to attract more investments into the SCZone.

Commenting on the progress of the SCZone, Mameish confirmed that the economic zone is steadily progressing and developing, with many facilitations being made to investors and incentives given to promote the project. Moreover, he asserted that the region is being promoted via international and local forums, confirming that a number of key investors have places the SCZone as the top of their list.

In similar vein, Chairman of Carbon Holding Company, Basil al-Baz, revealed that a total of $5.4 billion in funding has been secured from various sources. Moreover, he said that their recent visits to different countries to promote the SCZone has been fruitful, with them signing with more than 16 European and American banks.

Baz also pointed out that they will soon build and launch residential buildings for the labour force. The residential area will cover 0.5 metres squares and will house 35 thousand individuals, adding that the design of the pier that serves the project has been completed and that implementation will start soon.

Executive Director of Financial Services and Executive Director in the AFC, and representative of the AFC, Sanjeev Gupta pointed out that the Egyptian government follows policies to diversify the countries’ economy and support the private sector to develop new industries. Egypt aims to create more jobs, he pointed out.

Gupta also pointed out how proud the AFC is of the partnership, saying that “[it] will be a major breakthrough in one of the most important petrochemical industries in the economic region, which will reap many benefits to all African countries.”