The African Development Bank has allocated US$1 billion for the finance of infrastructure projects in Egypt in 2011, bank resident representative Khushhal Chand Khushiram announced this week. “Among these will be an airport modernization project,” Khushiram said, noting that the bank's share of the syndicated loan for the project would not be less than US$230 million. Last year, the bank allocated US$1 billion to finance four projects in Egypt, including a power station in Suez with a 650-megawatt capacity. “We are willing to increase our loan package to the Egyptian government this year, as long as proposed projects are economically feasible and consistent with bank policy,” Khushiram said. He went on to explain that the bank had managed to raise its total capital to US$100 billion, up from US$30 billion in 2009. In 2009, the bank aimed to increase its total loan package to African countries from an annual US$5 billion to US$12 billion, due in large part to the unfolding global financial crisis. “We have also granted US$2 billion in loans to the private sector,” Khushiram said. The Tunis-based African Development Bank was established in 1964. It currently boasts 53 African member-states and 23 non-African member-states. The bank's chief focus is the promotion of sustainable economic development and the eradication of poverty on the African continent. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
