Alexandria will benefit from 30 million euro loan
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union's long-term financing institution, is lending 30 million euro to Egypt for upgrading and extending water and sewerage services in Western Alexandria. The project consists of the design and construction of a comprehensive wastewater collection system and a biological wastewater treatment plant. Due for completion in 2003, the project will serve a population of 750,000. The future reutilization of treated effluent and sewerage sludge is currently reviewed under a study being financed through EIB's Mediterranean Environmental Technical Assistance Program (METAP). Using METAP funds, the EIB has helped to prepare a number of studies for projects of benefit to the environment in Egypt. The EIB is supporting the investment because of its environmental benefits for the 2.5 million inhabitants of Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt, as well as for the wider Mediterranean region. The project will treat sewage flowing into Lake Maryout, a highly valuable wetlands area and reduce discharges into the Mediterranean. The investment is financed under the Euro-Med Partnership Mandate (1997-2000) and would benefit from an interest subsidy of 3% funded from the European Community's budget, reflecting its environmental benefits. This is the EIB's seventh loan in Egypt under the Euro-Med Mandate. It brings EIB financing under this Mandate to 291 million euro, and total EIB financing committed in Egypt in the last four years to more than 800 million euro. Over 600 million euro of this has already been disbursed. The EIB has become one of the major financing partners for the Egyptian economy, supporting economic and financial links between Egypt and the European Union.
Countries
Egypt