The African Development Bank (AfDB) has decided to postpone granting Egypt the EGP 2.5 billion loan (US$ 357.1 million) - which is designated to provide additional airport capacity at the Sharm El-Sheikh Airport – until the end of the current year; said the head of the Egyptian Airports Company on Saturday. The chairman of the Egyptian Airports Company (EAC), Pilot Gad el-Karim Nasr, stated that a number of AfDB officials had held 3-day negotiations with their counterparts in the EAC in order to complete the loan procedures. The 3-day negotiations concluded by delaying the issuance of a final approval of the EGP 2.5 billion loan to Egypt until a report on the AfDB delegation's visit is submitted to the bank's General Assembly, he added. AfDB's General Assembly is set to be held next December so as to agree on a definitive decision on the loan. It is worth mentioning that the AfDB was planning last December to approve on providing Egypt with a funding to develop the second passenger terminal at Sharm El-Sheikh Airport , granting a grace period of 7 years with a 1% interest, and a final maturity of 20 years. However, the funding has been delayed to the ongoing incidents in the country. The funding was dedicated to raise the capacity of T2 to 10 million passengers annually. Therefore, the total capacity of the Sharm El-Sheikh Airport would reach 18 million passengers, to eventually become the third biggest airport in Africa, after Johannesburg and Cairo airports.
