As being the main loan arranger, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) is planning to grant the railway equipment factory Semaf a loan worth € 96 million within this June in cooperation with 5 other banks; Banque Misr, Commercial Internatioanl Bank – Egypt (CIB), Société Arabe Internationale de Banque (SIAB), Arab Banking Cooperation (ABC) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). An official source said the funding is allocated to purchase 212 air-conditioned railcars within the framework of the joint cooperation between Semaf and the Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA). The Source further pointed out that NBE has received the final approvals from Banque Misr, CIB, SIAB, and ABC over Semaf loan. For the NBAD, NBE is expecting its approval within this week. Moreover, the source referred that NBE's corporate portfolio is totaled up to EGP 76 billion by the end of last May, reporting an increase of EGP 76 billion, compared to EGP 60 billion achieved by the end of 2012. It is worth mentioning that, in 2004 Semaf has been joined to the Arab Organization for Industrialization (A.O.I). Whereas Semaf was established in 1955 for manufacturing and equipping railways rolling stock.
