Egypt has signed Tuesday a 30 million Kuwaiti dinars (around $108 million) loan with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED). This is the second loan signed between Egypt and Kuwait Fund to help finance Egypt's South Helwan Power Project worth $1.7 billion (around 14 billion Egyptian pounds). The agreement was sealed by Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and Abdulwahab Ahmed Al-Bader, Director General of Kuwait Fund, in the presence of Egyptian Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker. Minister Nasr said the Kuwaiti loan is of 2.5 percent interest per year, with a five-year grace period to be paid over 20 years. The project will add around 1,950 megawatts to Egypt's national grid, she added. The volume of cooperation portfolio between Egypt and the Kuwait Fund reached 720 million Kuwaiti dinars ($2.6 billion), encompassing 41 projects in several economic and social sectors. The cost of the South Helwan station is $1.7 billion (around 14 billion pounds), co-financed by the World Bank with a loan of about $503.8 million, the Islamic Development Bank with $450 million, the Arab Fund with 55 million Kuwaiti dinars, the KFAED with 30 million Kuwaiti dinars, and the African Development Bank with $90 million.
