Egypt has signed Monday three soft loan agreements totalling $0.5 billion with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for energy, electricity, and civil aviation sectors. In the presence of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is currently visiting Tokyo, and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, Sahar Nasr has signed JICA loans, with interest rates ranging between 0.1-0.3 percent. For the first soft loan, it is valued at ¥762.24 billion ($243.3 million) of 0.3 percent interest rate, and with a ten-year grace period to be paid over 40 years, minister Nasr said. It will be designated for financing the North African's plan to raise the efficiency of the power generation process. The second soft loan, worth around ¥11.214 billion ($91 million), is dedicated for a project to establish a 20 MWp photovoltaic power plant project in Hurghada. Moreover, Nasr said the third loan, worth ¥2.18 billion ($152 million), would go for a project to upgrade Borg El Arab International Airport, in Alexandria. It will be of 0.1 percent interest rate and with a ten-year grace period to be paid over 40 years.
