NI Capital, subsidiary of the National Investment Bank (NIB), will complete evaluating the assets of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) within three months, as a prelude to separating the company from the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, in accordance to Law no. 87 of 2015. Sources at the Ministry of Electricity said that frequent meetings are held to provide all information in this regard. "After the evaluation is completed, the company will be restructured and separated from the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company within three years," they added. This comes as an implementation of the law on breaking entanglements and overlaps between electricity production and transmission companies. Moreover, the sources pointed out that EETC owes the NIB EGP 28bn in late dues, noting that proposals suggest naming the bank partner through contributing its dues in EETC capital. The preliminary evaluation conducted by a joint committee of the ministries of electricity and investment for lands of 145 transformers stations for 625 stations estimated their value at EGP 11bn. Transformers and transmission lines have not been taken into consideration in this evaluation. Furthermore, the sources explained that the committee put a low price tag on the plots of land and estimated their value as land for projects, not as residential land, which results in a big gap considering their location. Dues owed by EETC to NIB were originally EGP 7bn, but the debt accumulated overtime when the Ministry of Finance suspended funding the project for lighting in villages, which was implemented by the Ministry of Electricity. The project suspension pushed the companies to seek funding from NIB—despite the high interest rate of 14%. According to preliminary evaluations, EETC assets are worth EGP 150bn in total.
