Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr has signed an agreement with Leila Al-Mokaddem, the resident representative of The African Development Bank (AFDB), to provide a grant worth EGP 10m, allocated for developing ashwa'yat (informal housing areas) and subsidising the low-income class. Nasr said that the new agreement will help the country end the problem of ashwa'yat within its "Egypt 2030" vision through providing technical support and making the research needed for developing those areas. The agreement will finance four studies to develop ashwa'yat in Egypt, Nasr Said. Moreover, Al-Mokaddem said that the grant is a part of an understudy project worth $80m, planned to be proposed by June, adding that the bank is considering providing the third tranche of the loan during the current year. However, Al-Mokaddem told Daily News Egypt that the bank is studying the opportunity to finance five new renewable energy projects geared at generating electricity for the private sector, which would be within the program's electricity prices listing. She emphasised that within a month the bank will know how much it would allocate for the five projects, adding that every project would generate 50MW. The minister said that the grant will support the Informal Settlements Development Fund (ISDF) in its mission, and it will consult a company specialised in studying such areas. "The grant will be used to develop three areas at least," the minister noted, emphasising his will to increase the support for developing ashwa'yat to $100m in the future. Nasr added that the second tranche of the African Development Bank's loan, which was allocated for Upper Egypt, will be used for establishing 10,000 housing units. From another direction, the minister signed another cooperation protocol with the Misr El-Kheir foundation, which allocated EGP 5m for providing support to the poorest villages within a grant provided by the African Bank worth $1m. Nasr stated that the protocol will support the poor villages in eleven governorates, which are Aswan, Beni Suef, Qena, Assiut, Sohag, Luxor, North Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea, Alexandria, and Beheira, adding that Upper Egypt is a priority. She stated that the protocol is an example of partnership between the government and civil society institutions. However, Ali Gomaa, the chairperson of the board of trustees of the institution, said that Misr El-Kheir has 170 current projects that are being developed, adding that it chooses the urgent projects based on a database that is regularly updated.
