The Egyptian unit of UAE-based Majid Al Futtaim Holding (MAF) has secured a 200 million Egyptian pounds ($12 million) loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The cash will be used to fund the group's City Centre Almaza, a 103,455-square metre site in east Cairo which will be one of the largest mall network across the Middle East, EBRD said on Wednesday. The developer, the sole franchise of Carrefour in the Gulf, said in earlier statement that the project is expected to create 22,000 direct and 14,000 indirect job opportunities. The project is pegged at a total of $437 million and will include a 13,040-square metre Carrefour, 16 state-of-the-art VOX cinema screens, a 1,800-square metre Magic Planet family entertainment centre, and 4,000 parking spaces. It is located in Cairo's high-end suburb of Heliopolis on the north eastern quadrant of the junction between the Cairo-Suez Road and Nasr Road in Heliopolis. MAF has two malls, three hypermarkets and some supermarkets in Egypt.
