Emirates NBD Egypt Bank announced on Sunday the provision of 2 billion Egyptian pounds ($127.4 million) to finance the construction of Egypt's biggest agricultural wastewater treatment plant. A consortium of Orascom Construction, Hassan Allam, Arab Contractors, and Metito will be responsible for the establishment of the plant, which will be in the El-Hamam city in North Coast. The anticipated plant will have a capacity of 6 million cubic metres of water per day, with the treated water to irrigate up to 500,000 feddans west of the Nile Delta area. The plant, set to be the largest in the world, will also be used for the reclamation and cultivation of about 330,000 feddans of land east of the Suez Canal along with 70,000 feddans that are currently being cultivated. The project will also include the construction of a 120-kilometre waterway to transfer the agricultural wastewaters from Delta governorates to the treatment plant in El-Hamam city. Mohamed Berro, CEO of Emirates NBD-Egypt Stemming from being part of a leading regional bank, Emirates NBD Egypt believes in the importance of supporting the Egyptian government's plans through financing infrastructure projects and the establishment of new agricultural communities in the Western Desert, said chief executive Mohamed Berro. This project will help Egypt to spur sustainable economic growth, Berro added. In February, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has directed for the immediate start of construction of El-Hamam agricultural wastewater treatment plant. The country has recently established several wastewater treatment plants, most prominently of the Bahr El-Baqar plant. Emirates NBD Egypt is a subsidiary of the Emirates NBD Group, one of the Middle East's leading banks. After entering the Egyptian market in June 2013 following the acquisition of BNP Paribas Egypt, it has focused on becoming one of the country's leading private sector banks.
