The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a Governmental Agreement with the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt for an amount of EUR 214m to support the Kitchener Drain depollution project. The new financing is part of the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) and will improve the sanitation and solid waste services for approximately 6 million people in the Nile delta region.
The agreement was signed at the headquarters of the EIB in Luxembourg by H.E. Dr. Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation and EIB President Werner Hoyer.
This is the first phase of a larger investment programme that was identified by an EU financed pre-feasibility study under the supervision of the Mediterranean HotSpots Investment Program II. The project aims at the depollution of the 69 km long Kitchener Drain, which extends across the Governorates of Gharbia, Kafr El-Sheikh and Dakahlia in the Nile Delta region.
The EIB’s financing supports investments in domestic wastewater collection and treatment comprising both the rehabilitation and expansion of existing and the development of new infrastructure. In addition, the EBRD will finance the solid waste and drain rehabilitation components of the project. Finally, the EU is supporting the project through a substantial grant contribution of EUR 45.8m through the Neighborhood Investment Facility (NIF). The EU-NIF contribution will finance both investments and technical assistance and is critical to catalyze the investment.
The project will improve the water security of communities and ecosystems while contributing to improved quality of life and socio-economic development of a predominantly rural area. Up to approximately 6 million people are expected to benefit from the new and improved sanitation and solid waste services as a result of the foreseen investments.
Original source: EIB
Published on 17 October 2018
