The African Development Bank (AFDB) announced that it plans to continue its support to the Egyptian government by expanding its lending programme in 2015. The bank aims to finance projects in the water, irrigation and energy sectors along with small and medium enterprises (SMEs). "Some notable projects in the pipeline include the rehabilitation of Zefta barrage, farm level irrigation modernisation, national drainage project Phase III, 200 MW Gulf of Suez wind power, Kom Ombo solar power, rehabilitation of conventional power plants and SME cluster development programme for the agribusiness sector," the bank said in an official statement. The bank's statement added that the increases in grants contribute to the critical reform in the field of governance, including the enhancement of the delivery of justice and its transparency, improvement in rule-making and the assistance to parliamentarian support staff in achieving social inclusion. "In 2014, the bank is working on providing $75m to build the transmission line from the bank-financed Suez thermal power project as well as a Risk Participation Agreement (RPA) between AFDB and Commercial International Bank (CIB) to the tune of $50m to support the latter's export trade confirmation business in Egypt," AFDB said. On 25 March, the interim Egyptian government signed several agreements with international institutions to help finance projects in the energy sectors as well as small and micro businesses. The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) signed two agreements amounting to $412m to help upgrade the power station in Assiut, contribute to the Egyptian-Saudi electricity linkage project and finance small and micro businesses. On the same day, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation signed on Monday an €80m agreement with the French Agency for Development, offering long-term credit to small and micro Egyptian businesses. In December, AFDB signed a $2m grant agreement with the Ministry of International Cooperation to finance the Green Growth Industrial Waste Management and SME entrepreneurship initiatives. The grant came from the Middle East and North Africa Transition Fund, under the umbrella of support provided by the Deauville Partnership to Egypt.
